Improving organ and tissue donation awareness within ethnic minority communities in Wales thanks to NHSBT funding.
Thanks to £10,000 of funding from NHS Blood and Transplant, we're teaming up with Kidney Wales to improve organ and tissue donation awareness within ethnic minority communities in Wales, ultimately increasing the number of organs available for transplantation for patients.
The aim of this project will be to educate predominately South Asian communities - Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Arab Muslims about organ donation and transplantation across Wales. Together, we want to encourage people from these communities to make a positive choice about organ donation and encourage them to inform their family of their decision. The project will also see us work with relevant stakeholders to raise awareness of organ and tissue donation amongst these ethnic minority communities.
Delivering the project
During the 12-month project we’ll be raising awareness in a variety of ways, including a series of four online webinars which will be recorded and hosted on our websites, alongside social media campaigns that will run throughout the year, as well as sharing video content and information to tackle common organ donation questions, myths, and misconceptions during key awareness days such as Organ Donation Week.
Working together in Wales
Bushra Riaz, our policy lead, says: “We are pleased to be working in collaboration with Kidney Wales and Dr Farah Latif on this important project to raise awareness of kidney disease and organ donation among minority ethnic communities in Wales. We’ll be drawing on experience from our previous community-based work in Scotland and England to liaise closely with clinicians and patients to help more people understand the process of organ donation and why there is an urgent need for more people from these communities to donate. We look forward to using our volunteer-led model to help overcome the myths, misconceptions and barriers to donation within these communities.”
Dr Farah Latif, WCAT Fellow (ST5) in nephrology and transplantation says: “I am thrilled that NHSBT has funded this crucial collaborative project to raise awareness about organ donation amongst UK ethnic minorities. The funding will allow us to work closely with our communities to tackle misconceptions surrounding organ donation and address the health inequalities our patients encounter.”
Ross Evans, managing director at Kidney Wales, said: “We’re delighted that NHSBT has recognised the importance of our work within our minority ethnic communities in Wales. We are excited to work with Kidney Research UK, Dr Farah Latif, the transplant team, senior faith leaders and members of the community to implement this project raising vital awareness, and removing the barriers that exist around organ donation, in communities with a high prevalence of kidney disease.
We’re thrilled to be planning this project in collaboration, funded by NHSBT, and are excited to begin the project delivery.
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