In 1983, during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, the US Food and Drug Administration made the decision to ban gay men from donating blood. Now, 40 years later, it is dropping that rule.
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There has been a monumental policy shift in paying blood plasma donors in Canada.
We calculated there was a one in 1.4 billion chance of someone contracting vCJD from a blood transfusion. And that risk will get even smaller with time.
Your blood can hold a record of past illnesses. That information can reveal how many people have had a certain infection – like 58% of Americans having had COVID-19 by the end of February 2022.
In a new randomised clinical trial, we found regularly donating blood or plasma can reduce blood PFAS levels.
The reasons for the hesitancy to donate blood are complex and include a fear of needles and lack of awareness. Awareness and education drives to dispel the fear of donating are important.
A potential shortage of crucial blood plasma highlights the case for paying Canadians for plasma donations, rather than continuing to import most plasma from the United States, where donors are paid.
Australia is a cultural melting pot, but our blood donors are less diverse. We need a broad mix of ethnicities in our donor pool to meet the needs of patients with rare blood types.
Canada suffers a shortage of vital blood plasma. Paying donors, through a non-profit like Canadian Blood Services, would secure a local supply without lining the pockets of corporate shareholders.
To save taxpayer money and treat Australian donors more fairly, a competitive market for plasma supply is necessary.
In the the wake of the Orlando massacre, many people directly affected by this homophobic hate crime are prevented from offering help due to homophobic regulations.
News that a Sydney man has contracted Creutzfeld-Jacob disease serves to highlight that we still don’t know how to prevent a disease that most often goes unreported, and unremarked on.
Top contributors
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Honorary Professorial Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University
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Victoria's Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
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Senior Research Fellow and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, Macquarie University
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Adjunct associate professor, University of Sydney
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Adjunct lecturer in allograft transmissible infections, medical school (surgery), The University of Western Australia
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Professor of Economics, University of Technology Sydney
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Associate Professor of Philosophy, Carleton University
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Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Franklin & Marshall College
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Adjunct associate professor, Swinburne University of Technology
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Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology
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Associate Teaching Professor, Georgetown University
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Senior Lecturer and Haematologist, Macquarie University
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Director, Strategic Research Initiatives, Macquarie University
