Blood donation screening needs to change: Sudbury researcher
A Sudbury researcher feels changes need to be made to screen blood donors in both Canada and the United States.
OmiSoore Dryden says current rules unfairly discriminate against gay people and certain visible minorities.
She is an assistant professor of women's, gender and sexuality studies at Thorneloe University in Sudbury and has written extensively about blood donation and bans on donating.
Her comments come just days after 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
More than 50 people remain in hospital with injuries from the incident.
There have been calls out for people to donate blood for victims.
Pictures have surfaced online of people lining up to donate, but not everyone can roll up their sleeves to help.
That has lead some like Dryden to criticize rules around blood donation.
In both Canada and the United States, there are currently restrictions in place that exclude some gay and bisexual men from being able to donate blood.
The application form potential blood donors must fill out prior to giving blood includes two specific questions about sexual contact.
Dryden feels these criteria questions exclude potential donors, specifically gay and lesbian individuals.
Blood service agencies stepped up the criteria in the late 1980s and early 1990s following a tainted blood scandal.
But Dryden says it's not fair to exclude these populations all together from donating blood.
She says in 2016 blood testing is cutting edge and determines problems in blood long before it would be distributed elsewhere.
Blood testing is more advanced than during the days of the 'tainted blood scandal'
Through a blood test, the window to determine if someone has been exposed to HIV/AIDS is five to eight days.
"Blood that's donated today is processed and processed [tested], so you can't donate on a Tuesday and have somebody get that blood on a Wednesday."
She says there should be a focus on strategies or practices, instead of targeting particular bodies or regions.
Dryden says HIV/AIDS doesn't simply come out of African communities or gay communities, so she feels those specific questions are not necessary on the blood donor application form.
A story from the Colombia Medical Review, stated the latest surveillance data from the US Centers for Disease Control show that the majority of new HIV infections occur in men having sex with other men (MSM).
The review states in 2010, MSM accounted for 78% of new infections among American men, and 63% overall, which is why bans are in place.
Reconsider the ban, professor urges CBS
Dryden says there will always be research that show statistics where certain communities are more at risk of disease or death than others.
She says research and science is compiled by human beings who bring their own biases into questions being asked.
She urges blood collection agencies like Canadian Blood Services and the US Food and Drug Administration to reconsider the bans they currently have in place.
"At the end of the day they are not serving the community in which we live. They just aren't," says Dryden.
with files from Martha Dillman/packaged by Angela Gemmill