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Screening tests can have false negatives. Perhaps there has been some large, recent improvement, but not that long ago the situation was so dire that blood from MSM that had been tested and found negative was still more likely to be contaminated with blood-born pathogens than non-MSM blood because the base rate was just that much higher.
My issue is claiming, without precise data, whether or not MSMs should be blanket banned from blood donation. I believe I am qualified to make a decision here, if I were to dive deeper into said numbers and do a principled cost-benefit analysis. However, what would the point be? I'm sure more qualified people have already done so. Blood is always in acute shortage, and everyone is desperate to get as much of it in stock as they can without compromising safety more than it helps.
Sure. I'm just noting that the more qualified people did run the numbers, and even with screening tests denying donations from MSM was a good call - at least 10 years ago. It's possible there are better tests, or better HIV suppression medicine these days that might change the math.
Almost all Western nations have lifted blanket restrictions for MSM donating blood. Iceland just removed theirs at the beginning of July. I believe it's just Greece and Croatia left, which probably tells you something about the Greeks.
Based on some quick Googling, there didn't appear to be any significant changes in technology between 2011, when the rules started being relaxed, to what we see today. The retrovirals were available well before then. I take it back, I could probably have done a better job than these regulators, they seem too risk averse. At least they've moved on by now!
In Germany the parliament instructed the medical association to make new rules which don’t discriminate according to sexual orientation. So the change was ordered by political correctness. New rule is now that for a blood donation you can’t have in the last four month a) two or more sexual partners at the same time or b) analsex.
Gay organizations complained of course that analsex in itself is not causing HIV and there are plenty (heterosexual) monogamous couples who are now prevented from donations (IF answering honestly).
I guess this can’t be solved socially, but only by the coming HIV vaccines.
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Is there a way to have blood donated to use, personally?
Hmm? I presume you don't mean just standard altruistic blood donation do you?
If you want it for personal use, I don't know of any easy options. The closest would be autologous transfusion, such as when someone is going to have a risky surgery in X amount of time, and the doctors save as much of their blood in the lead up (there is cell salvage during surgery where they simply scoop the spilled blood back into you, or perhaps you might have a very rare blood group). That is relatively uncommon. The kind of service I think you're envisioning probably needs you to personally approach a hospital or blood bank, with the hope that they're feeling obliging or can be swayed by money.
Unless you're extremely risk averse, I wouldn't bother. The risk of infection from donor blood is very low these days.
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Or cultural changes more willing to suffer the consequences, and/or less willing to produce that particular kind of stigmatization.
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