KGUN9 On Your Side, Tucson News, Weather & SportsGovernment refuses to allow gay men to donate blood
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Reporter: Sergio Avila
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has upheld a ban that doesn't allow sexually-active gay men to donate blood. The decision was made by a government panel in a 9-6 vote.
Organizations like the American Red Cross and the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF) were in support of lifting the ban because it could add as many as 200,000 pints of blood to the blood supply per year.
"I think it's outdated, our technology has come such a long way. I think at the beginning they were being very conservative," Michelle Bart, of SAAF, said.
The government panel did agree that the policy isn't the best and will be looking for ways to revise it. The American Red Cross is pushing to have a one-year wait period for healthy gay men who want to donate.
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