A new nationwide group has been launched in the House of Commons that looks at organ donation from a mutli-faith perspective.

The group - The Organ Donor Campaign (ODC) was launched by among other Stephen Timms MP, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Evan Harris MP.

Also in attendance were Dr Chris Rudge: National Clinical Director for Transplant and Professor Gurch Randhawa of the Organ Donor Taskforce.

There are approximately 8,000 people in the UK in need of an organ transplant and 1 in 10 of them will die whilst waiting. Forty per cent of people on the kidney and liver transplant waiting lists are from black and Asian communities.

And Asian people have to wait on average twice as long as a white person for a suitable donor. Asians make up less than 3% of organ donor registers.

The group will be starting it’s nationwide educational outreach initiative in the North West in early March.

Asian Image caught up with ODC team members Komal Adris and Shabbir Lorgat to find out a bit more about their campaign.

Do we really need an Organ Donor Campaign?.

Shabbir: “The UK has amongst the lowest rates of organ donation in Europe, that’s totally unacceptable”.

Komal: “Until my friend began dialysis 18 months ago, I might have answered ‘dunno’. I knew very little about renal failure, dialysis or the UK’s organ donor crisis.

“Armed with a long list of questions, my quest for answers began in early 2008. I met many individuals who shared the same frustrations and were asking similar questions. Meeting a breadth of inspiring and brave individuals the search eventually culminated in the formation of the ODC.”

On average, 1000 people will die this year waiting for a transplant, how can we sit back and do nothing?.

Shabbir: “Over the years the number of people needing an organ transplant is steadily increasing, Individuals from a Black or Asian background are already over represented on the transplant waiting lists. Due to high rates of blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes amongst Asian populations, the numbers needing organ transplants looks set to rise.”

What will the ODC do to address the organ donor crisis in the UK?.

Shabbir: “Lack of awareness is a huge reason for the low rates of organ donation in the UK. Our focus isn’t simply about getting people on the register. We want people to make an informed choice about whether they wish to donate or not. So our core aim is to provide the relevant information and education they need to make that informed choice.”

Komal: “It would be much easier for us to go out there, play the emotional card and encourage everyone to simply sign up to the register. But then we’re not really addressing the root cause of the problem. Some elements within the Muslim and Jewish faiths for example do not condone organ donation after death. Similarly there are cultural barriers within the Sikh and Hindu communities.

“People need to explore the issues surrounding organ donation from personal perspectives; the ODC provides the tools and information to allow them to do that.”

What do you hope to achieve with the ODC?.

Komal: “We’re a random group of individuals that have personally been affected by this issue and there’s hundreds of thousands more people out there with similar experiences. We decided we weren’t going to sit back and wait for change to happen and we hope people across the UK will be inspired to take a similar approach.”

“ In an ideal world, individuals like my best friend wouldn’t have to wait 3-10 years for an organ transplant. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t really need the ODC”.

Shabbir: “Its early days and already we’ve generated a lot of support and done a lot of groundwork, but we’re just getting started and looking forward to taking the organ donation debate into every living room in the UK.”

If you would like to find out more about the ODC or are interesting in getting involved please visit: www.organdonorcampaign.co.uk or email: info@organdonorcampaign.co.uk