The FDA continues to stand by its 1983 policy to refuse blood donations from “men who have had sex with men since 1977,” saying that this would increase the risk of spreading HIV, hepatitis B and other infections transmittable through transfusion.

In an attempt to reduce the spread of HIV through blood donations, the Food and Drug Administration maintains its 1983 policy concerning blood donations from men who have sex with other men.

This means that a man who has ever had sex with another man since 1977 is forbidden throughout his lifetime from donating blood.

The FDA announced: “Men who have had sex with men since 1977 have an HIV prevalence (the total number of cases of a disease that are present in a population at a specific point in time) 60 times higher than the general population, 800 times higher than first time blood donors and 8000 times higher than repeat blood donors.”

Although there have been suggestions that the agency change its policy, the FDA has said that there is still not enough scientific evidence to show that modifying this measure would be safe.

More than a year ago, the Red Cross and other blood groups suggested to the FDA o replace the lifetime ban with a 12-month period of deferral following sexual contact between two men.

Emphasizing the increasing demand for blood donations, the blood groups called the FDA’s policy “medically and scientifically unwarranted,” saying that nowadays HIV tests have been improved and can detect the virus within 10 to 21 days of infection.

“Scientific evidence has not yet been provided to FDA that shows that blood donated by MSM or a subgroup of these potential donors, is as safe as blood from currently accepted donors,” the FDA said on its Web site.

The announcement, posted Wednesday on the Web site, says that the FDA remains “willing to consider new approaches to donor screening and testing, provided those approaches assure that blood recipients are not placed at an increased risk of HIV or other transfusion transmitted diseases.”

Other persons banned from donating blood are sex workers and people who have used drugs intravenously.

Critics of the policy have said that it discriminates gay men. The FDA has denied such discrimination accusations.