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Asian Organ Donors Urgently Needed
20th March 2007
1 in 8 people who died waiting for a transplant in 2006 was of Asian or black origin
A major campaign to tackle the growing ethnic minority ‘donor gap’ in the south Asian and black communities is launched today by UK Transplant, the NHS organisation responsible for matching and allocating donated organs.
Asian and black people are over three times more likely to need a kidney transplant than the general population, and their chance of a successful transplant is greater if they can be matched with a donor from the same ethnic group.
But with Asian and black people accounting for fewer than 2% of deceased organ donors, transplant patients from these communities have to wait up to twice as long as others for a suitable donor to become available.
The latest figures show that Asian people wait an average of 1,496 days for a kidney transplant and black people an average of 1,389 days. In contrast, white people wait an average of 722 days.
The campaign – titled ‘Can we count on you?’ – urges Asian and black people to help tackle this ethnic minority donor gap by signing up to the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR).
The number of Asian people joining the ODR has increased in recent years, but demand for donated organs is rising. There are currently 1,403 Asian and black patients listed for a transplant, of whom 1,342 need a kidney and the remaining 61 are waiting for liver, lung, heart, pancreas or heart/lung transplants.
In addition, 1 in nearly 10 of all cornea transplants carried out in the UK help an Asian person regain their sight. Asian people are more likely to need a cornea transplant because of keratoconus, a debilitating disease which usually affects both eyes, causing worsening vision distortion.
Furthermore, an above average 6% of people on the liver transplant list are Asian. This is because viral hepatitis – Hepatitis B & C – that can lead to live damage and liver failure is more prevalent in the Asian population.
The campaign also seeks to dispel some common myths that are known to affect donation rates, including people’s assumption that there are religious objections.
Gurch Randhawa, an expert in transplantation and Professor of Public Health in Diversity at the University of Bedfordshire, and himself a Sikh, said: “The title of this campaign says it all. There are hundreds of Asian and black people on the transplant list who are literally counting on a donor to save their lives. The shortage of ethnic minority donors is a serious issue but it’s a problem we can all do something about by discussing donation and joining the register.”
Additional information:
1. Organ transplant recipients are matched to donors using criteria such as blood type (for kidney patients), and the chances of a successful match are greater if the two share the same ethnic background.
2. Over 21% of people now registered for a kidney transplant are Asian or black, yet people from these ethnic backgrounds only represent 6% of the UK’s population.
3. There is a shortage of organ donors from all ethnic backgrounds, yet only 1.3% of the 14.15 million people registered on the ODR are of south Asian or black origin.
To join the NHS Organ Donor Register phone 0845 6060 400 or visit www.uktransplant.org.uk.
UK Transplant have produced a podcast on the subject featuring Gurch Randhawa, the comedian Curtis Walker and Abby Fadina, who has had a successful kidney transplant operation. To link to the podcast go to http://www.podmaster.co.uk/podcast.php?ID=56.
Contents of this website © South Asian Development Partnership 2001-2007.