5 ms·

AIDS was not easily avoided. The blood supply was not screened early on. Many people early in the epidemic were infected from simple transfusions. Famous Americ

AIDS was not easily avoided. The blood supply was not screened early on. Many people early in the epidemic were infected from simple transfusions. Famous American tennis player Arthur Ashe contracted it and died in this manner.

perl4ever 7y ago
It's not possible to screen for certain if someone has just acquired HIV, so to this day, they try to exclude people with risk factors from donating blood. Which then is treated as a human rights issue by some.
- TomMarius 7y ago
  I am from Europe so it seems a little weird to me - is donating blood your right in the USA?
  - quickthrowman 7y ago
    No, there are a series of screening questions that rule out high-risk donors (gay men, IV drug users, and travelers to high/risk areas are disqualified from donating). All blood is tested regardless.
    - perl4ever 7y ago
      However, not everybody agrees that all of the questions are necessary or appropriately worded.
    - TomMarius 7y ago
      That is the same as here, but how is it a human rights issue?
      - DoreenMichele 7y ago
        If you are gay, they don't want you to donate blood. The problem is that if you are, say, at work and they do a blood drive and you say "I can't. Sorry." that potentially outs you to your coworkers that you are gay or have some other issue that disqualifies your blood. In practice, they will let you donate and then mark it for destruction so you can hide the fact from your coworkers that you don't qualify. (Or they did at one time.) This was a big issue in the US military during the "don't ask, don't tell" era where they would throw you out if they knew, but official policy was to encourage you to just remain closeted. Being outed as gay was career ending if you were career military at that time. Blood drives are common in the military. They had to have some mechanism to honor the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and let you keep hiding your sexual orientation.
        TomMarius 7y ago
        I never heard about anything like "blood drive", or that my medical details could be shared with my employer in the USA! Makes more sense now.
        DoreenMichele 7y ago
        It wouldn't be directly shared with your employer. But if everyone is there and you decline to participate in giving blood, it can point to information about you that you don't want people to know.
        TomMarius 7y ago
        Whether you did or did not have some procedure done is definitely private medical information in Europe. There is no way for them to know whether I did or did not participate - maybe through the on site doctor if that is the one doing the procedure, but they're bound by very serious regulation to keep their mouths shut. Regardless, me not wanting to go would be a perfectly normal thing as well.
        DoreenMichele 7y ago
mturmon 7y ago
Isaac Asimov is another.

perl4ever 7y ago

It's not possible to screen for certain if someone has just acquired HIV, so to this day, they try to exclude people with risk factors from donating blood. Which then is treated as a human rights issue by some.

TomMarius 7y ago
I am from Europe so it seems a little weird to me - is donating blood your right in the USA?
- quickthrowman 7y ago
  No, there are a series of screening questions that rule out high-risk donors (gay men, IV drug users, and travelers to high/risk areas are disqualified from donating). All blood is tested regardless.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    However, not everybody agrees that all of the questions are necessary or appropriately worded.
  - TomMarius 7y ago
    That is the same as here, but how is it a human rights issue?
    - DoreenMichele 7y ago
      If you are gay, they don't want you to donate blood. The problem is that if you are, say, at work and they do a blood drive and you say "I can't. Sorry." that potentially outs you to your coworkers that you are gay or have some other issue that disqualifies your blood. In practice, they will let you donate and then mark it for destruction so you can hide the fact from your coworkers that you don't qualify. (Or they did at one time.) This was a big issue in the US military during the "don't ask, don't tell" era where they would throw you out if they knew, but official policy was to encourage you to just remain closeted. Being outed as gay was career ending if you were career military at that time. Blood drives are common in the military. They had to have some mechanism to honor the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and let you keep hiding your sexual orientation.
      - TomMarius 7y ago
        I never heard about anything like "blood drive", or that my medical details could be shared with my employer in the USA! Makes more sense now.
        DoreenMichele 7y ago
        It wouldn't be directly shared with your employer. But if everyone is there and you decline to participate in giving blood, it can point to information about you that you don't want people to know.
        TomMarius 7y ago
        Whether you did or did not have some procedure done is definitely private medical information in Europe. There is no way for them to know whether I did or did not participate - maybe through the on site doctor if that is the one doing the procedure, but they're bound by very serious regulation to keep their mouths shut. Regardless, me not wanting to go would be a perfectly normal thing as well.
        DoreenMichele 7y ago

mturmon 7y ago

Isaac Asimov is another.