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"Can we count on you?" - our south Asian organ donation campaign
People from south Asian communities living in the UK have a much greater chance of needing a kidney transplant than the general population. This is because they are more likely to develop diabetes or high blood pressure, both of which are major causes of kidney failure.
Low donation rates
Unfortunately, while the need for donor organs is three to four times higher than among the general population, donation rates are relatively low among south Asian people. This reduces the chances of finding a successful match.
Organs are matched by blood group and tissue type (for kidney transplantation) and patients from the same ethnic group are more likely to be a close match. If more south Asian people are to receive successful transplants more south Asian people need to become organ donors.
Our solution
Our latest south Asian organ donation campaign, Can we count on you? was launched in March 2007 to raise awareness of the need for more south Asian donors. You can find out more about the campaign online or download the leaflet as a PDF document.
How you can help our south Asian organ donation campaign
We've produced a series of leaflets and posters which are available for you to order to help you run your own campaign. All the material has been specially designed to get across the message about the need for more south Asian donors. These are available in English, Bengali, Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu to download from this website.
Religious perspectives
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, which means that views may differ. All the major religions accept that organ donation is an individual choice.
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