For many people with kidney failure, a kidney transplant is the most effective treatment that will allow them to live a life that is as near normal as possible. A transplant is not a cure as recipients will need to take medication for the rest of their lives, but it does allow a freedom that is denied to those who need dialysis.

Unfortunately, the demand for donated kidneys is much greater than their availability, and this is particularly true for those from ethnic minorities, who are statistically at higher risk of kidney disease and often face a greater resistance to joining the organ donation register.

Donor kidneys can either be from a deceased donor or from a living donor, usually a relative or friend as it is perfectly possible to live with only one kidney. Even so the average wait for a donated kidney is around 2½ years. Every day across the country it is estimated that 2 people die whilst waiting for a transplant. Within the Lister area around 75 transplants are carried out each year and we would very much like to increase this number.

It goes without saying that there can’t be a kidney transplant without a kidney to transplant and therein lies the problem. The demand for kidneys for transplant is significantly higher than the supply, despite the law being changed in 2020 to one of ‘deemed consent’, so it would be deemed that you had agreed to organ donation even if you had not recorded consent.

So we urge you to join the organ donation register and, really importantly, make your loved ones aware of your decision on donation as, despite the changed law, they can still refuse to agree to this if they are unsure of your views.

To raise awareness across the community of the shortage of donated organs, every year events are organised – usually around Organ Donation Week in September – but we try not to lose any opportunity to keep this important subject in the forefront of peoples’ minds.

Tarsem Paul, LAKPA vice chair, Chair of the Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust Organ Donation Committee and LAKPA representative on the Lister Organ Donation Committee leads on this for LAKPA. He has been active in this, organising events and participating in fairs such as the Bedford River Festival, as well as lighting up public buildings in Bedford for Organ Donation week.

Please join the organ donation register so that, in the circumstance that your organs are suitable for transplantation when you die, your decision to join the register could bring that greatest gift of all to another human being – the gift of life.

For more information on organ donation, please do visit the following websites but most importantly – Register your decision to donate and inform your next of kin and loved ones of your wishes!

• National Kidney Federation (NKF)
• Kidney Care UK (KCUK)

There is a particular shortage of donated organs for BAME communities, and the following sites focus on this issue:

The National Black, Asian, Mixed Race, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Transplant Alliance (NBTA):
https://www.nbta-uk.org.uk/about

Jain and Hindu Organ Donation Alliance:
https://jhod.org.uk/