Orlando mass shooting: rules for donating blood

Some campaigners and researchers have challenged current US guidelines on donation that preclude gay men from giving blood unless they have been celibate for a whole year, following Orlando shootings by Omar Mateen on Sunday.

They say that the one-year celibacy rule – unveiled by the US Food and Drug Administration in December when it rescinded a 32-year ban on all donations from gay men – is too draconian because blood tests now reveal within days of infection whether a person’s blood contains HIV.

“The revised policy is still discriminatory,” says the National Gay Blood Drive in a statement, a group campaigning for relaxation of the FDA guidelines. “While gay and bisexual men will be eligible to donate their blood and help save lives under this 12-month deferral, countless more will continue to be banned solely on the basis of their sexual orientation, and without medical or scientific reasoning.” It added that it favours a system where each donor is assessed individually.

..

 

The issue was raised in Orlando following confusion over whether local blood banks had relaxed the rules to allow more desperately-needed blood to be collected to treat the many wounded. But the centre concerned, called OneBlood, later issued a statement denying this.

In the wake of the atrocity, prominent researchers have also weighed in to challenge the legitimacy of the one-year rule. Paul Volberding, director of the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, said that the policies around blood donation are outdated.

“Current HIV blood tests are incredibly sensitive and accurate. Infection can be detected within days of exposure making the current US FDA requirement of a 12 month gap from last sexual act to donation meaningless,” he says.  He believes that a gap of just a few weeks at most followed by a test would make donations from men who have sex with men fully safe.

“And if in place, such a policy would have allowed donations in Orlando for those wanting to do something for the victims, many of whom almost certainly required massive transfusions,” says Volberding. “And with shortages of blood, common policies aligned with science could enable thousand now barred from donation to engage in this expression of social responsibility.”

A study two years ago by the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimated that if more gay men were allowed to give blood, the US national supply would grow by between 2 and 4 per cent.

Guidelines similar to the FDA’s – requiring at least a year of celibacy – also apply to gay men who donate in Australia and the UK, where a review of the ruling is currently under way.

 Source: NS

Minister of Environment visits communities affected by erosion in Akwa Ibom

Minister of Environment visits communities affected by erosion in Akwa Ibom

 

Hajia Amina Mohammed who is in Akwa Ibom state for the Federal government Town hall meeting, visited some communities in the state that are seriously affected by erosion. See more photos below

Oscar Pistorius: Psychologist tells court ''he's a broken man who shouldn't be jailed'', as trial begins today

Oscar Pistorius:  Psychologist tells court ''he's a broken man who shouldn't be jailed'', as trial begins today

 

 

A psychologist, Jonathan Scholtz, has told the court that South African athlete, Oscar Pistorius, who was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp is a 'broken man who shouldn't be jailed'.

The athlete faces a minimum 15-year sentence in a case that has prompted a fierce debate in South Africa. Some rights groups say the 'white' athlete has received preferential treatment and would have been punished severely if he were black.

He appeared at today's session most times with his hands on his head as the Psychologist said he has been undergoing medication for depression, anxiety and insomnia.

Oscar's trial will last through out this week till Friday, when a sentence will be made.

Here is what the Psychologist  told the court:

"Since the offence he has developed a serious psychiatric condition which has become worse over the past two years - major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder."

"One would describe him as broken. In my opinion his current condition warrants hospitalization," Scholtz told the hearing that was attended by Steenkamp's mother.

"Since 2013, he becomes traumatized when he hears the sound of gunfire," Scholtz said. "He never wants to touch a firearm again."

Pistorius killed Ms Steenkamp in February 2013 after firing four times through a locked toilet door.

The athlete has always maintained he believed he was shooting at an intruder.

 

 

Checkout the Orlando nightclub scene where 50 were killed by a terrorist (photos)

Checkout the Orlando nightclub scene where 50 were killed by a terrorist  (photos)

 

 

Omar Mateen, 29, is undoubtedly the worst mass shooter in American history, who shot 50 people with several others wounded using an AR-15 assault rifle and handgun on the dance floor at Orlando's Pulse night club early Sunday morning before he was gunned down by SWAT police.

 

See more photos of the crime scene below:

 

 

 

 

 

Yobe Governor foots N2.5m medical bill of baby born with heart outside chest wall

Yobe Governor foots N2.5m medical bill of baby born with heart outside chest wall

 

 

Yobe State Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Gaidam has single-handedly paid the N2.5 million bill urgently needed to carry out surgical operation on a baby Aisha Mustapha, who was born nine days ago at Goni Gori village with her heart outside her chest wall. The surgery will be done at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). The money will be delivered at UMTH today.

Source: Abdullah Bego, Special Adviser to Yobe State Governor on Media

Check out Salient Things About Orlando Gay Club Shooter

According to the Police, the man who killed approximately 50 people and injured at least 53 people at the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse is Omar Mateen, 29, a resident of Port St. Lucie, Fla., which is about 125 miles southeast of Orlando.

Police have held details regarding Mateen’s past and potential political ideologies and affiliations close to the vest, but in a press conference, authorities confirmed much of the information first reported by various news sources.

• In an interview with NBC News this morning, Mateen’s father said that he believes his son was motivated to commit a massacre after he witnessed two men kissing while he was in Miami.

• Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Mateen declared his allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a 911 call placed at the time of the shooting. Earlier, House Intelligence Committe member Rep. Adam Schiff told the Washington Post that, in a briefing this afternoon, he was told that “local law enforcement officials said the gunman had ‘declared his allegiance to ISIS.’” Further, Pat Milton of CBS reported that Mateen gave police his full name and cited the names of Boston Marathon bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. An FBI spokesperson confirmed that Mateen communicated with 911 dispatchers and made mention of the Islamic state, but did not go into further detail.
• Several reports have indicated that Mateen was FBI radars for several years. An FBI spokesperson said that Matten was interviewed by the FBI twice in 2013 after making threats to a coworker, and once in 2014 after being linked to an American suicide bomber. In both instances, the FBI found no sufficient evidence to continue with their investigations. Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance when he committed the massacre.

 An ATF spokesperson confirmed today that Mateen was able to legally purchase guns, and bought both of the weapons used in the attack within the last week.

• According to his ex-wife, who spoke to the Washington Post, Mateen was abusive in their short marriage. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that,” she said. She also alleged that he was mentally unstable. Police did not address this in the press conference.