Promoting organ donation and transplantation among South Asians in the United Kingdom: the role of social networks in the South Asian community

Abstract

The percentage of South Asians on the kidney transplant waiting list in the United Kingdom is 3 times their percentage in the general population. Obviously, organ donation and transplantation among South Asians in the United Kingdom needs improvement. In recent years, ethnically targeted campaigns in the mass media have specifically attempted to attract donors from the South Asian communities. A number of pilot studies have been done to evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives in providing information about organ donation to South Asians. Results indicate that detailed information related to transplantation was learned mainly by people within the community receiving transplants and was transmitted through various informal community networks rather than through the resources provided by the Department of Health. This article provides an overview of who South Asians are and how these community networks were established. Transplant professionals must devise effective strategies to access these community networks, thereby raising the consciousness of transplantation among South Asians in the United Kingdom.