The Williams Institute

If the current FDA blood ban on men who have sex with men (MSM) were lifted, an estimated 360,600 men would likely donate 615,300 additional pints of blood each year. Lifting the ban would increase the total annual blood supply in the U.S. by 2 to 4 percent and could be used to help save the lives of more than a million people. If MSM who have not had sexual contact with another man in the past twelve months were permitted to donate, the report estimates that 185,800 additional men are likely to donate 317,000 additional pints of blood each year. If MSM who have not had sexual contact with another man in the past five years were permitted to donate, it is estimated that 172,000 additional men would make an additional 293,400 blood donations. The FDA’s blood ban prohibits men who have had sex with men (MSM) at any time since 1977 from ever donating blood.