Transplant Alliance Strategic Plan
This plan addresses the under-representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people on whole organ and bone marrow registers.
Documents
Details
Every year, 180 people from these ethnic groups die waiting for a transplant because of a chronic shortage of suitable organs.
The National BAME Transplant Alliance (NBTA), a new group launched last week, is bringing together people and organisations with in-depth knowledge of their communities to address the problem of low donor and transplant rates. Through collaborative working among key organisations, the NBTA is promoting awareness of donation in black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.
Last week, at the launch of the NBTA, stars including Alesha Dixon, Colin Salmon and Beverley Knight, joined forces with leading charities and organisations to raise awareness of organ and bone marrow donation.
The issues include:
- people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are 3 times more likely to need an organ transplant than the rest of the population - but under 2% have recorded their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register
- while around 90% of white Caucasian patients in need of a bone marrow transplant may find a match, for the black, Asian and minority ethnic population the matching rates can be as low as 40%
As part of broader plans to improve stem cell transplant services an extra £4 million will be made available in the coming year. A substantial part of this will be geared towards increasing stem cell donation from black and minority ethnic communities.
A full list of NBTA group members:
- African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust
- Afiya Trust
- Anthony Nolan
- DWIB Leukaemia Trust
- Hindu Forum of Britain
- Institute for Health Research, University of Bedfordshire
- Kidney Research UK
- Muslim Student Healthcare Network
- NHS Blood & Transplant
- National Kidney Federation
- Race Equality Foundation
- The Rik Basra Leukaemia Campaign
- Seventh Day Adventist Church
- South Asian Health Foundation