23EL-812 On-Demand eCast: Update on Donor Gender Identity and Risk-Based Assessment for Sexual Behavior Criteria

Live Program Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Program Number: 22EL-812

Educational Track: Quality Education
Topic: Hemovigilance
Intended Audience: Directors, Donor Recruitment Staff, Hospital Blood Banks, Managers/Supervisors, Medical Directors, Research Scientists, Residents/Fellows, Scientists, Students (MD, MT, SBB)
Teaching Level: Advanced, Basic

Faculty
(titles and affiliations at the time of the live program)
Director/Moderator: Lynsi Rahorst, MHPE, MLS(ASCP)SBB^CM, Manager, Education and Training IRL/Genomics, New York Blood Center Enterprises, New York, NY
Speakers: Mindy Goldman, MD, Medical Director, Donation Policy and Studies, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Canada; Nancy L. Van Buren, MD, Medical Director, Innovative Blood Resources and Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City, divisions of New York Blood Center Enterprises, St. Paul, MN

Program Description
The transfusion medicine community and relevant regulatory bodies have a responsibility to maintain a safe blood supply, and scientific evidence guides rules for donor eligibility. Historically, men who have sex with men (MSM) have been permanently deferred from donating. More recently, shortened deferral periods for this group have been implemented, but these changes still result in the deferral of sexually active MSM. Because of gender based questions on the donor history questionnaire and donor testing strategies based on gender, there are challenges associated with donors who are gender nonconforming. An ideal approach for these donor groups would foster inclusivity and respect, minimize deferrals, and increase donor eligibility, while remaining evidence-based to preserve the safety of the blood supply.

In this program, the faculty will discuss the history of MSM deferrals and the move towards risk-based assessment of donor eligibility. They will address the challenges that gender nonconforming donors present to blood collection facilities and demonstrate how a blood center can overcome these challenges. This program will include both American and Canadian perspectives on these topics.

Learning Objectives
After participating in this educational activity, participants should be able to:

• Describe the recently implemented approach to risk-based sexual behavior assessment for all donors in Canada.
• Outline the evidence used to assess the impact of changing to gender neutral, behavior-based questions on the safety and adequacy of the blood supply.
• Describe findings from the ADVANCE study in the U.S. to support FDA approval to move from time-based MSM questions to individualized risk assessment of donors
• Discuss donor eligibility issues for gender non-conforming donors and describe how to overcome these challenges.

How to Claim Continuing Education Credit

• Single Viewers: if you registered as a single viewer, complete the evaluation found on the "CE Information" tab after watching the video. By submitting the evaluation, you are attesting to watching the presentation in its entirety.

• Group Viewers: This is applicable for groups/facilities that purchased Group Viewing access for this program (registration will be verified prior to processing a group viewing attendance log). Group Viewing Coordinators should submit the attendance log to eLearning@aabb.org within 72 hours of the completion/viewing date. Once AABB receives an attendance log, each participant on the attendance log will be granted access as a single viewer to this program and will be required to complete the evaluation in order to claim continuing education credit. Each participant will be required to have an AABB account in order to access this program/platform. If a participant does not have an account, he/she can create one using the same email address provided on the attendance log.