Some of the best options for organ transplants come from the members of the same ethnicity. Since the year 2015, the NHS has seen about 1.7 million withdrawals from people belonging to the Asian community who refused to give consent to donate their organs after they die. In May 2020, England enforced a “presumed consent” law whereby, unless a person withdraws their consent, their organs will be used for transplant after their demise.
According to the latest data released by organdonation.nhs.uk, in March 2020 the NHS witnessed a sharp reduction in organ donation and transplant activity with a decline in deceased donors as well as the number of transplants from all ethnicities. Donations were reduced as patients who were positive for COVID-19 were unable to donate, but also transplant activity was scaled back due to concerns for safety and the risk of waiting patients being immunosuppressed in the midst of a pandemic.
According to a report titled ‘Organ Donation and Transplantation data for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities’, by the end of the year, there was a fall in the overall number of deceased organ donors - 1,580 compared to 1,600 last year. Despite this, the number of BAME deceased organ donors has increased by 67% over the last 5 years, from 67 in 2015/16 to 112 in 2019/20, representing 7% of all deceased organ donors.
Last year also saw 142 people from BAME communities becoming living donors, donating a kidney or part of their liver to someone in need. BAME living donors have continued to be significantly higher than BAME deceased donors and constituted 14% of all living donors; with 84 Asian living donors, the same as last year. This reflects the work done within the Asian communities in promoting living donation. By 29th February 2020, there were 1,909 BAME people on the overall active organ transplant list, this is an increase of 4% from 31 March 2016 and represents 32% of the waiting list. However, the report says that it’s encouraging to see the waiting lists for kidney transplants continue to decline.
Members of ethnic minorities are time and again put under a spotlight for citing the religious reasons for withdrawing their consent from organ donation. Sharing her opinion with Asian Voice, Shaista Gohir OBE, Co-Chair Muslim Women’s Network UK said, “Reluctance to donate is not necessarily about religion, some may object to organ donation of a deceased family as it adds extra trauma to an already grieving family. I have chosen to be an organ donor and encourage others to also be donors. Those who are opting out (regardless of their faith background – as it's not just ethnic minorities opting out) should not want someone else’s organ if they or a loved one needs it. If people really want to be organ donors they could justify it within Islam so some may be just using religion as an excuse.”
Asian Voice also reached out to Abrar Aqil, who spoke on behalf of the Muslim Association of Britain. Abrar holds an LLM in Healthcare ethics and her area of study centered around the Islamic Perspectives On Organ Donation and Transplantation. Ms Aqil said, “The sanctity of life is a principle of utmost importance in the Islamic faith, as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an: ”If any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole of mankind.“ {5:32}
“Organ donation and transplantation as a life-saving mechanism is permitted by many scholars following certain conditions are met. Those belonging to BAME communities in particular serve to benefit due to the shortage of matching organs for transplant, as well as the enormous reward and comfort that can be offered to those who choose to become donors as well as their families. We encourage both Muslims and non-muslims, to learn more about the benefits of organ donation and to discuss their choices with their family and loved ones,” she added.
Speaking to Asian Voice, Farhad Ahmad, Imam at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said, "Organ donation is not only allowed in Islam but is considered to be a source of reward if it is done so with the intention of serving humanity. Islam teaches that saving one life is equivalent to saving all humanity and so organ donation as a means of helping others is an act of goodness as Islam greatly emphasises that Muslims should be at the forefront of serving the creation of God Almighty. Given that there is a shortage of organs that are needed nowadays, it becomes particularly more pertinent to take part in this and so Muslims should feel no reservation towards this as their faith encourages them to take part in this."
