Nishkam Healthcare Trust supports living kidney donation campaign on World Kidney Day
“Organ donation is a noble sacrifice; it expresses gratitude to God for His infinite blessings upon us. Human life is precious, it sparks and shines when we exercise love, compassion, selflessness, forgiveness, benevolence, and sacrifice for all God’s Creation. Human bodies are analogues to sacred places of worship, wherein our soul is the highest spiritual authority, running the show of life. It is thus our responsibility to cherish, protect and value ours and others’ bodies.
Organ donation is a visionary concept for futurity. It will impact generations to come.’”
In January 2022, the Nishkam Healthcare Trust were awarded funding from NHS Blood and Transplant to drive much needed awareness of living kidney donation specifically among the South Asian community in Handsworth, Birmingham. The NHS-run Living Kidney Donation scheme, which is an extension of the Community Investment Scheme, was launched because of the significantly longer times Black, Asian and minority ethnic patients have to wait for a successful match due to a shortage of suitably matched donors.
Whilst Black and Asian people represent about 10% of the UK population, they are over-represented on the transplant waiting list (26%). A lack of suitable donors is a key reason for this disparity, but also a high prevalence of end-stage Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) among this population. It is important to note that a kidney donated by a living donor offers the best long-term outcome for the patient. Studies have shown that the average patient survival at 10 years is 90% possible with a living donor transplant, compared to 75% after a deceased donor transplant.
As part of the Living Kidney donation campaign, and to mark the 2022 World Kidney Day on Thursday 10 March, Nishkam Healthcare Trust and other organisations in the UK will join hands with the NHS to address misinformation around organ donation to help save lives. Due to their specialist knowledge and understanding of their respective communities, local organisations have a big part to play in raising awareness of key issues. Nishkam’s recent COVID-19 response is an example of this success, in setting up the Nishkam COVID-19 Vaccination Centre in an area with low uptake and using clinical and professional in-house expertise to tackle cultural myths around vaccines.
Prospective donors can be related, or otherwise known to patients, but can also be unknown (non-directed altruistic donors). The former is a common occurrence, while the latter is less so, and one of the key aims of the living kidney donation campaign is to increase the number of non-directed donors so patients are able to receive the best matched kidney.
““Nishkam Healthcare Trust is committed to the disease prevention and patient empowerment agenda. In this respect, we are acutely aware of the high prevalence of chronic kidney disease in our local BAME communities. The opportunity to promote organ donation, which has demonstratively better health outcomes, is strongly aligned with our organisational mission. We are excited about this project, where we will aim to drive change by increasing awareness about living kidney donation, what this involves, addressing myths, and ultimately, we hope this will translate to increased willing organ donation, particularly in the BAME communities where there is a shortage of donors.””
For more information on Living Kidney Donation, please visit the NHS Blood and Transport website.