Blood Bank of Delmarva hosting CAMP Rehoboth and UD blood drives, new FDA guidance lifts deferral for sexual orientation

The Blood Bank of Delmarva hosts blood drives at Camp Rehoboth and the University of Delaware in light of new guidance on who can donate.

The Blood Bank of Delmarva implemented a new donor screening process in October following final FDA guidance establishing a blood donor screening process based on Individual Donor Assessment.

Delmarva Blood Bank Communications Specialist Tony Prado says until now, some restrictions were placed on men who have sex with other men.

“This was predicated on the fact that men who had sex with other men had been given a lifetime ban from donating blood during the early to mid-1980s,” Pradio says. “That was changed by the FDA to a 12-month deferral in 2015, and then during the pandemic that was changed to a 3-month deferral in 2020.”

Prado says they have faced criticisms from the LGBTQ+ community when blood is in short supply, some claiming they want to donate but FDA guidance would not allow it. So, he says they hope this bolsters the number of people who donate blood, adding that around 62 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate, but only three percent of those eligible do.

Prado says the restrictions were initially implemented out of an abundance of caution for HIV. Still, new studies show different eligibility criteria could be used focusing on each donor’s individual risk behavior rather than their sexual orientation.

“And everybody’s blood I want to say is tested the same,” Prado says. “They go through a stringent process where the blood is tested for several infectious diseases including HIV. So the blood supply is going to remain safe and it’s based on these scientific studies that the FDA took a look at and decided to act on.”

The CAMP Rehoboth Blood Drive is Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, November 11. The UD drives are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Wednesday and Thursday at the Trabant Student Center in Newark.