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While the American Red Cross said that there is no clear data that would suggest that changing the current blood donation policy would significantly increase the number of blood donations, if the deferral period were lifted, an additional 360,000 men would likely donate, "which could help save the lives of more than a million people," according to LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD. While the lead researchers involved in the study previously told ABC News their goal was to present their findings to the FDA in late 2021, the FDA has shared with ABC News that the study is still ongoing, amid what the American Red Cross is calling "the worst blood shortage in over a decade." In 2020, ABC News broke the story that several major blood donation organizations - including the American Red Cross, Vitalant and OneBlood - announced that they were working together in an FDA-funded study ( ADVANCE: Assessing Donor Variability And New Concepts in Eligibility) to provide data to determine if eligibility based on an individual's risk could replace the time-based deferral system while maintaining the safety of the blood supply. While there are no new decisions to announce at the moment, the FDA is currently supporting the 'ADVANCE' study, a scientific study to develop relevant scientific evidence and inform any potential policy changes." "The President is committed to ensuring that this policy is based on science, not fiction or stigma. "The legacy of bans on blood donation continues to be painful, especially for LGBTQI+ communities," the White House official told ABC News in a statement. Healthy older individuals can continue to safely donate and make a significant contribution to the blood supply past arbitrary age limits.A bag of blood is seen sitting on a table at a Red Cross blood drive. In contrast, vasovagal reaction rates were either lower (male donors) or similar (female donor for reactions with loss of consciousness) in older compared to 24- to 70-year-old donors.Įxclusion solely based on older age appears to be unwarranted based on safety concerns such as donor reactions.
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The deferral rate was higher in older compared to 24- to 70-year-old males, but very similar between older and younger females. Older donors accounted for 1.0% (New Zealand) to 4.3% (United States) of donors, and 1.5% (New Zealand) to 5.6% (United States) of donations most were between ages 71 and 76. Donors under age 24 were included in the number of total donors and donations, but not in deferral and reaction rate comparisons. Twelve blood center members of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative from four countries with no upper age limit for whole blood and double RBC donation (Canada, New Zealand, England, and the United States) or an upper age limit of 80 (Australia) provided 2016 data on donors and donations, deferral rates, and vasovagal reactions by donor age and sex. We evaluated the safety of blood donation in older individuals (≥71 years), and their contribution to the blood supply of five countries. Some countries impose an upper age limit on whole blood and double RBC donation while others do not.