OK, here is the second new (and third overall) example on
rules. These are the first two here and
here.
Since the 1980s, the Red Cross has had a question in their
screening questionnaire for males “Have you had sexual contact with another man
since 1977, even once?” The question
came about during the AIDS crisis. And
it has never been removed. There is also
a question for males that asks about risky behaviors such as having unprotected
sex or sharing needles. But that one
only asks about “in the past year?”
Why am I questioning these rules? There are many homosexual men in committed monogamous
relationships who are just as sure as anyone else, probably even more, that
they don’t have HIV. Definitely more
than a heterosexual male who has engaged in these risky behaviors more than one
year earlier. There are 10 million gay
men who are screened out of giving blood unless they lie on the questionnaire (which
is why I bring it up in a post about breaking rules). There is currently a movement to eliminate
the question, or at least change it to also be “in the past year?”
My Take
It seems that we have learned a lot about HIV since the mid
1980s and smarter questions are not too hard to figure out. The movement to get the screener changed
makes a lot of sense to me.
Your Turn
What do you think?
Change the rule? Ask gay men who
are confident in their non-HIV-status to lie on the form? Or continue to screen them out? Or some other option I haven’t thought of? Please chime in.