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South Asian Community Organ Donation
Campaign
 Working in partnership with NHS Blood and
Transplant, MHN helped promote and deliver the highly successful South
Asian Community Organ Donation Campaign. South Asian people of which
Muslim comprise the significant majority in the UK, are three times
more likely to need a kidney transplant than the rest of the population.
This is because illnesses such as diabetes, kidney disease and heart
disease, which may result in organ failure, occur more often in the
South Asian community.
NHSBT’s new campaign aimed to increase awareness about the lack
of organ donors in the South Asian community and challenge the misconceptions
surrounding organ donation. It also aimed to help people make more
informed choices by providing accurate information and encouraging
more people to register as organ donors.
Various communication channels employed by MHN and other partner organisation
included media packs that highlighted some of the compelling statistics
that surround organ donation and the South Asian community, such as:
- Currently nearly 1,500 South Asian people are waiting for a transplant.
- Only
1% of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register are from the South
Asian community.
- The lack of suitable
donors means that, on average, South Asian people
wait nearly twice as long for a kidney transplant.
The Muslim Health Network continues to work with NHSBT to encourage
more South Asian people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register
(the confidential national database of people willing to become
donors
after they die). Working together, we also aim to dispel some
common myths that are known to affect donation rates, in particular
assumed
religious objections.
All the major religions of the UK support the principles of
organ donation and transplantation. However, within each religion
there
are different schools of thought, and clear criteria. All
the major religions accept that organ donation is down to
individual
choice
and anyone with concerns or doubts about the religious implications
of organ donation is encouraged to talk to their spiritual
or religious leader.
Anybody who would like advice about the issues surrounding
organ donation can call the Organ Donor line on
0300 123 23
23 or
visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk.
Please also view a previous MHN article on the subject, available here
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