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  Answer ID  
345
  Products  
  Answers.hrsa.gov
  Category  
  Organ Donation & Transplantation
    Who can be a donor
  Date Created  
03/24/2005 09:11 AM
  Last Updated  
01/22/2008 03:27 PM

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  Organ donation: Minorities and donation
  Question
  Why should minorities be particularly concerned about organ donation?
  Answer
 

Minorities overall have a particularly high need for organ transplants because some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, and liver are found more frequently in racial and ethnic minority populations than in the general population. For example, African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics are three times more likely than Whites to suffer from end-stage renal (kidney) disease, often as the result of high blood pressure and other conditions that can damage the kidneys. Native Americans are four times more likely than Whites to suffer from diabetes. Some of these conditions that can result in organ failure are best treated through transplantation and others can only be treated by this life-saving procedure.  In addition, similar blood type is essential in matching donors to recipients.  Because certain blood types are more common in ethnic minority populations, increasing the number of minority donors can increase the frequency of minority transplants. 

For more information on minorities and organ donation, visit the Web site of the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program at www.mottep.org  (not a U.S. Government Web site) .

 


 
 
 
  
 
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