The American Red Cross will soon be recommending that blood donors disclose whether they have had sexual partners within the past month, according to its chief medical officer.
However, the organization says it will be leaving it up to each patient’s physician to determine whether it is safe to provide safe blood to a patient with an AIDS-related diagnosis.
The blood donation policy on “which partners are acceptable to donate” for safe blood donations is “currently a regulated system, [where] all blood stocks are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they are safe for transfusion,” says Jim Brobson, the executive director of Red Cross Blood Services.
A blood test identifies potential donors with high levels of antibody that indicates they may have been exposed to HIV. Physicians use these test results to work with the Red Cross and other national organizations that monitor the safety of blood donations to decide whether it is safe to give blood that comes from that donor.
Mr. Brobson says that if the Red Cross ever finds that a patient has antibodies to HIV, the organization will pass those test results along to the patient’s treating physician, where it will be discussed.
The American Red Cross has not historically included questions about sexual activity in its blood donor questionnaire, saying its broad set of physical and mental health questions serves as a better indicator of someone’s willingness to donate blood.
But “science has caught up,” Mr. Brobson says. The blood test identifies potential donors with HIV antibodies, and the Red Cross wants to make sure this information is the most important factor in deciding whether a person can safely donate.
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