HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
222 |
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting the united states food and drug administration to eliminate its blood donor deferral policy On the collection of blood and blood components FROM men who have sex with men.
WHEREAS, on December 21, 2015, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted a decades-long policy banning gay and bisexual men from donating blood and recommended a deferral on men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with MSM from donating blood within twelve months after last sexual contact; and
WHEREAS, the FDA cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) findings that in 2010, MSM accounted for seventy-eight percent of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections among American men, and sixty-three percent overall, as justification for its one-year deferral policy for MSM blood donations; and
WHEREAS, many other high risk groups or individuals listed within the cited CDC report do not have any restrictive deferrals put in place against them; and
WHEREAS, the FDA already rigorously tests blood from donors within several days, and the one-year deferral period of MSM does not align with the testing windows for any of the disease screening methods used by blood banks; and
WHEREAS, many MSM practice safe sex in the form of protected sex, monogamy, and other health-conscious practices; and
WHEREAS, fifteen countries have either lifted bans and deferrals on MSM or have maintained a no-deferral or no-ban policy on MSM, including Argentina, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Poland, and Spain; and
WHEREAS, in 2001, Italy changed its blood donor screening policy from a criteria-based deferral of MSM to an individual risk assessment method for all blood donors; and
WHEREAS, a study on Italy's HIV rates found that the newer policy had no significant impact on HIV rates in the country; and
WHEREAS, in the United Kingdom, the National Health Services Blood and Transplant authority is currently conducting research on making it possible for MSM to donate blood without a deferral in place; and
WHEREAS, a study conducted in 2014 by The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law found that lifting restrictions on MSM blood donors could increase the total annual United States blood supply by two to four percent, thereby saving more lives; and
WHEREAS, the consensus among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy groups is that the current one-year deferral period is based on fear rather than medical sciences, and that the deferral continues to stigmatize MSM by perpetuating negative stereotypes of male homosexuality; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the Senate concurring, that the United States Food and Drug Administration is requested to eliminate its blood donor deferral policy on the collection of blood and blood components from men who have sex with men; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Food and Drug Administration is requested to adopt a blood screening model of individual risk assessment for all blood donors in lieu of its current one-year, lifestyle-based deferral specific to men who have sex with men; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs of the United States Food and Drug Administration, Chairperson of the Blood Products Advisory Committee of the United States Food and Drug Administration, and Chairperson of the Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Blood Donation; Eligibility Requirements; Deferral; Men Who Have Sex With Men; United States Food and Drug Administration