Organ Donation

Other campaigns

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.

Donated organs need to be carefully matched to the recipient to ensure blood and tissue groups are compatible. 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. However there is an acute shortage of donors from South Asian communities.

This means South Asian people have to wait on average about twice as long as a white person for a kidney transplant. Right now nearly 1500 South Asian people in the UK are waiting for a transplant. Some of them will die while waiting.

But only 1% of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register are from the South Asian community.

If more people registered, more lives could be saved.

If you believe in organ donation, prove it. Register now.

Our solution

Our latest South Asian organ donation campaign was launched in February 2010 to raise awareness of the need for more South Asian donors. The campaign will consist of a tour of vibrant street plays, faith roadshows, community forums backed up by our celebrity supporters and the real life stories of South Asian people talking about what life is really like when you are waiting for a transplant. You can download the leaflets as a PDF document from the links on the right hand side.

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/Hindi, English/Bengali, English/Punjabi, English/Gujarati and English/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. Read more about religious perspectives on organ donation.