Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of organ donors from ethnic minorities.
Nicola Blackwood
There are a number of specific initiatives to increase the number of organ donors from ethnic minorities. Less than 5% of deceased organ donors are from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background, yet patients from BAME communities represent around a quarter of people waiting for a transplant.
The Department works with and supports the National BAME Transplant Alliance to coordinate the work of BAME organisations working within these communities to increase the number of people from a BAME background on the organ donor register and the number of transplants from BAME donors.
The Department has also funded Kidney Research UK to undertake a Peer Educator Project working with the Pakistani Muslim Community in Birmingham and the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets to raise awareness about organ donation.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has developed a behaviour change campaign strategy in support of the Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020: A UK Strategy. This includes increasing its education and engagement activities with BAME communities and a Faith Action Plan outlining action to work in partnership with faith leaders. NHSBT also has a wide range of leaflets promoting organ donation that are translated into a number of different South Asian languages including Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.
