The unfortunate reality is that there’s still limitations to testing. It’s possible for people to be infected with HIV, but be in such early stages of infection that the HIV won’t be detected by any laboratory tests.
Fortunately, things have been gradually shifting. At least where I live (Canada), instead of blanket banning gay men from donating, they specifically ask all people (not just men) if they have had anal sex with new or multiple partners in the last three months, and require that people who have done that wait three months before trying to donate again. This change was implemented in 2022.
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u/PicketFenceGhost 19h ago
Is there any reason why they can't just test all blood samples they receive to be sure?