History – Expanding Plasma

Federal Court judge decides that Health Canada should be a part of Christopher Karas’ human rights inquiry

bsit-admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 15:27:11 +0000

In June 2021, a Federal Court judge dismissed the Attorney General of Canada’s application to dismiss Christopher Karas’ case at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, saying that the relationship between Health Canada and Canadian Blood Services and their roles in setting blood policies requires further inquiry by the Tribunal.

Federal judge rejects Health Canada’s claim it has no role in barring gay men from donating blood

Sexual behaviour based screening is implemented at all Canadian Blood Services donor centres across Canada.

bsit-admin — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 15:50:03 +0000

All donors (no matter their gender or sexual orientation or if they’re donating whole blood or plasma) will now be asked if they have had a new sexual partner in the last 3 months. Those who answer “yes” to either of those questions, they will further be asked if they have had anal sex (either receptive or insertive, aka top or bottom) in the last 3 months. If they have, they will be ineligible to donate. This means that more gbMSM are eligible to donate – but not all. The trans donor criteria is also removed. Trans individuals can register in their gender rather than as their sex assigned at birth. However, the system is still set up to require a choice between male or female, so nonbinary and other gender diverse donors will still be misgendered.

The first 5 cases of AIDS are reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

bsit-admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 17:02:03 +0000

5 young, gay men in Los Angeles present with a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, as well as other conditions that showed weakened immune function. It is not recognized at the time but the underlying factor for the presentation of rare diseases would later come to be known as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). By the end of the year, there were 337 reported cases in the US.

An Antiquated Perspective: Lifetime Ban for MSM Blood Donations No Longer Global Norm

A Timeline of HIV and AIDS

Larry Kramer, a writer and film producer living in New York City, holds a meeting in his apartment with over 80 gay men to discuss the “gay cancer” and raise money for research

bsit-admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:59:17 +0000

The meeting provided the foundation for Gay Men’s Health Crisis, an organization that was the first community-based AIDS service provider, to be formed in 1982.

A Timeline of HIV and AIDS

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses the term “acquired immune deficiency syndrome” (AIDS) for the first time in a report

bsit-admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:55:46 +0000

The report uses the term “acquired immune deficiency syndrome” and includes a footnote stating that it was previously referred to as Kaposi’s sarcoma and “opportunistic infections in previously healthy persons”.

A Timeline of HIV and AIDS

AIDS: MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS

The Canadian Red Cross asks gay, bisexual, and all men who have sex with men not to donate blood

bsit-admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:54:47 +0000

After it became clear that AIDS was transfusion-transmissible, the Canadian Red Cross advises people in high-risk groups, such as “promiscuous homosexual men”, Haitian immigrants, and people who use drugs, not to donate blood. There is no questionnaire yet with a specific MSM criterion, but pamphlets are given to donors with information about risk groups in the hope of self-exclusion.
This aligns with the decision the CDC made in the United States in January banning men who had had sex with men since 1977 from donating blood.
Red Cross asks high risk groups not to donate blood
Reconsidering the lifetime deferral of blood donation by men who have sex with men

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is identified as the cause of AIDS

bsit-admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:31:15 +0000

The contributions of many different research teams allow for the identification of the cause of AIDS within three years of the first presentation of cases.

The Discovery of HIV as the Cause of AIDS

A test for HIV is approved for use when testing blood donations

bsit-admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:30:17 +0000

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, which detects antibodies and antigens that are produced in the blood in response to HIV, is approved for use when testing donations. However, it was not allowed to be used as a diagnostic tool for those living with the virus as it had a high rate of giving false positives. The window period for this test (the time between the start of a new infection and tests being able to reliably detect it) is typically 3-12 weeks.

This Is How the HIV Test Was Invented

The Canadian Red Cross starts testing all donations for HIV

bsit-admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:29:14 +0000

As of March 1985, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted license to distribute the HIV-antibody test kits and by May, almost all blood and plasma centres in the U.S. were testing donations, leaving Canada several months behind.

November 1985 Canadian Red Cross begins testing blood donations for HIV

Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada

Homosexuality is no longer considered a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association

bsit-admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:25:47 +0000

From the first edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, published in 1952, homosexuality was seen as a mental disorder in need of a cure. By the revised version of the third edition, published in 1987, it was finally dropped entirely, putting an end to the pathologization of homosexuality.

When Homosexuality Stopped Being a Mental Disorder