Patient groups that rely on a safe blood supply, including the National Hemophilia Foundation, have also voiced support for dropping the ban. According to the Williams Institute, if the FDA were to lift the current ban on blood donations from MSM, an estimated 360,600 more men would be likely to donate, which would provide some 615,300. The push for a new policy gained momentum in 2006, when the Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks, and America's Blood Centers called the ban 'medically and scientifically unwarranted.' Last year the American Medical Association voted to oppose the policy. 'Some may believe this is a step forward, but in reality, requiring celibacy for a year is a de facto lifetime ban,' the organization Gay Men's Health Crisis, a New York-based nonprofit that supports AIDS prevention and care, said after the announcement. Some gay activists said Tuesday that policy remains unrealistic and will still stigmatize gay and bisexual men. It also noted that another CDC survey from 2007 to 2010 found that men who engaged in gay sex accounted for 63%of all new HIV infections. In September, the Centers for Disease Control noted in a report that men who have sex with men represent about 2 percent of the U.S.
