Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups & Organ Donation
Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups represent 31% of the active transplant list but only 6% of the deceased donors and 16% of the live donors.
So why does this matter?
• Transplantations are more successful when the donor and recipient are from the same ethnic background (due to blood group and tissue type compatibility).
• As a result, BAME group patients wait on average 1 year longer than their white counterparts.
Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) Groups and kidney health
Black and south Asian people are three to five times more likely to have kidney failure than white people, but many are unaware of the condition.
The Facts
- 6% of deceased donors are BAME but 33% of the active transplant list is BAME.
- There were only 51 deceased donors of Asian, Black or Chinese origin but there were 1702 patients of these ethnic backgrounds on the active transplant list.
- 29% of patients the transplant register are Asian or Black but only 4% of the deceased donors.
- The Asian, Black and Chinese communities are more reliant on living donors. There are roughly twice the number of living vs.deceased donors compared to those of white ethnicity.
The following tables show the source of these facts.
The source document for these tables is from the 
The source document can be found here.
What does my religion say?
The major religions in the UK support the idea of organ donation and transplantation. If you’re not sure about your religion’s teachings, then find out more from the pages below:
Important videos made by the Black & Asian Communities.
People have made these appeals to their communities for more people to join the organ donor register.
The Black community
The Asian Community
People from the Hindu religion
Film - Making a gift of life possible
This film was published in July 2011 by the Hindu Forum of Britain, the Hindu Healthcare Society and BAPS Charities in partnership with the Department of Health.
