NHS "delighted" with Hounslow response to organ appeal

It was organised to help residents to understand the importance of signing up to the ODR, and allowed people to ask any questions they might have about the commitment.
Alia Rashid, specialist nurse in organ donation for the NHS, said: "We were delighted with the response we received from the people of Hounslow. It is absolutely critical that people from all ethnic backgrounds sign up to the NHS Organ Donor Register and let their families know, so that their wishes can be respected."
While the number of ethnic minorities joining the register has increased in recent years, only 0.4 per cent of those on the ODR are black and only 1.3 per cent are from the Asian community. These groups are three times more likely to need an organ transplant than the rest of the population.
An NHS spokesman said: "This is because they are more susceptible to developing diabetes and high blood pressure which can lead to kidney and heart failure. As a result of higher demand and a shortage of organ donors black and Asian people have to wait on average three times longer than others for a transplant."
Anyone wanting to add their name to the NHS Organ Donor Register can ring 0300 123 00 00, text ORGAN to 64118 or visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk or www.facebook.com/organdonationuk

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE ODR

- The NHS Organ Donor Register records the details of people who have registered their wishes to donate organs and/or tissue after their death for transplantation. After someone has died, this information is checked by authorised medical staff to establish whether a person wanted to donate.

- Anyone can register on the ODR. Age isn't a barrier to being an organ or tissue donor and neither are most medical conditions. People in their 70s and 80s have become organ donors and saved many lives.

- The oldest recorded cornea donor was 102.

- One donor can save or transform up to nine lives and many more can be helped through the donation of tissues.

- There are currently 7,727 people in the UK on the active waiting list for an organ transplant, of which the total number of black and Asian people in the UK on the waiting list is currently 1,842.

- Between April 2010 and March 2011, more than 7,300 organ and cornea transplants were carried out in the UK, thanks to the generosity of deceased and living donors - the highest on record.