Doug Stanglin

USA TODAY

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended dropping its blanket ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual donors in favor of a less restrictive policy.

The proposed policy change, which will be offered for public comment next year, would allow gay men to donate blood if they had not engaged in sex with another man for at least a year.

The current ban, which was established in 1983 at the height of the AIDS epidemic, covers men who had engaged in gay sex at any time since 1977.

In a prepared statement, FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the proposed policy would "better align the deferral period with that of other men and women at increased risk for HIV infection."

The FDA said that it has already taken steps to implement a national blood surveillance system that will help the agency monitor the effect of a policy change.

The FDA said the decision comes after carefully examining recent scientific studies and new epidemiologic data.

Last month a panel of blood safety experts convened by Department of Health and Human Services voted 16-2 in favor of doing away with the lifetime ban. The panel recommended moving to a one-year ban, which bars donors who have had male-on-male sex during the previous 12 months.

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. population. 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.

Some gay activists said Tuesday that policy remains unrealistic and will still stigmatize gay and bisexual men.

"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.

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.

Patient groups that rely on a safe blood supply, including the National Hemophilia Foundation, have also voiced support for dropping the ban.

Contributing: Associated Press