I recently attended an organ donation event. When I heard the number of people waiting for donors among the Asian community I was shocked to realise the true extent of the problem.

It appears that there are somewhere in the region of 4000 people from the BME community looking for a donor, anything from a liver to a kidney. And there are as little as two per cent of the community on the organ donor register.

These figures point to just one thing – a major problem. We are effectively letting a lot of people die by not going onto the organ donor register.

I understand the religious debate, and the rightful concern of people worried about their beliefs in this issue, but then there are individuals willing to accept an organ donation without ever considering the need to go onto a donor registration system.

It seems a little hypocritical to say the least. From a consistency angle, if we don’t want to give we should not accept.

Of course that maybe a little simplistic as when you have to choose between life or death families will think about survival first and foremost.

I am aware of people who have received an organ through the donation programme but will then not encourage others to donate. Maybe I am missing something – but I simply do not understand that argument. In the sessions run by One Voice we learnt about the sort of people awaiting organ donations.

Because of our genetic make up, Asian people need to rely on donations from similar people. Therefore it is even more imperative that more people from our community opt to become donors, otherwise those on the waiting list will continue to suffer, and may ultimately lose their lives.

I would encourage readers of this column to do their research on this matter and try to make an informed decision about going onto the register.

But I would also urge the readers to think about what they would do about accepting an organ to save a loved one. If you are likely to accept, then I think it’s only fair that you give.

This is quite an emotive subject but I feel that the more we talk about it, the better the chance of survival for those that are waiting.