Organ Donation: The Precious Gift of Giving

People from different ethnicity, religions and cultural backgrounds attended an event at the House of Parliament this week to raise awareness about the importance of the organ donation. It was focused on the South Asian community. It was empowering to see people from many different walks of life come together to hear speakers, discuss about the importance of organ donation and the impacts on recipients’ families.

One of the key statistics about organ donation and transplantation in 2016/17 states a shortage of donors in the Black and Asian community (BAME) despite being at higher risk of diseases which require transplant: Currently 22% of transplant recipients are from BAME communities. whilst only 6.4% were donors (with a slight increase from 4.3% five years ago). I must stress people from the same ethnic group are more likely to be a match for a transplant.

I felt admiration for those who made the decision to donate during a difficult time of grief and sadness. We heard stories of the experiences of both donor and recipient families. These were ordinary people who made extraordinary decisions to make a life changing difference in strangers’ lives

The precious gift of organ donation through Transplantation can save lives or improve the quality of life. It is an important social issue that needs to be discussed widely across cultures and religions. The only way to increase the number of organs available is by increasing the number of organ donors. According to Organ Donation NHS UK, there are now more than 50,000 lives saved in the UK through transplantation. Whilst this is inspiring, it could be much better with education and myth busting.

This could allow us to perform one last act of kindness to enhance lives and in some cases to give the gift of life!

To join the NHS Organ Donor programme, register on the NHS Organ Donation website – www.organdonation.nhs.uk.

Help those who need a transplant. Donate your organs and tissues and sign up to the organ Donor today!

Originally published in LinkedIn on September 14, 2018