A number of people from the Muslim community have signed up to the Organ Donor Register following a visit by Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) staff to a Birmingham mosque.

The event, held at Birmingham Central Mosque in Highgate, was organised by the hospital with support from national charity Kidney Research UK.

The aim was to educate people from within the Muslim community about transplant and organ donation and to encourage them to consider being organ and bone marrow donors.

It follows research which shows that members of South Asian and Black communities are three times more likely to need an organ transplant, whereas less than one per cent of donors come from within these communities.

During the event, QEHB and Kidney Research UK staff engaged with people about kidney and related health conditions that lead to organ failure in the Pakistani community and how vital, therefore, is the need for organ donation.

Information was provided in a culturally and religiously sensitive manner with Peer Educator Yassar Mustafa, a practising Muslim, providing the religious element and Neerja Jain, a kidney specialist nurse, providing blood pressure checks and health information in Punjabi and Urdu.  

This included leaflets on organ donation and Muslim beliefs, plus information cards about kidney disease.

A QEHB stand urged people attending prayers at the mosque to “Join the organ donation register today”, while neighbouring stalls offered everything from hot food to perfume, sweets and clothing.

The event at Birmingham Central Mosque was also attended by Mr Majid Mukadam, Transplant Specialist (Surgeon), Heart and Lung Transplantation at QEHB.

He said: “We know from the statistics that lots of Asians, particularly Muslim patients, are on the waiting list for organ transplants and that there is a very high mortality rate on the waiting list.

“We wanted to convey this important message and educate people about organ and bone marrow transplant and donation.

“Some sections of the Muslim community believe it isn’t permissible to donate organs, whereas other sections believe it is, and efforts are being made to discuss these issues with scholars and Imams and come up with uniform guidance to the community.

“In the meantime, we were very grateful to the mosque administrators to allow us to put up a stall and convey this important health-related message. And we had a very positive response with people asking questions and some signing the Organ Donor Register.

“This is just the beginning and we need to do a lot more so that larger sections of the community benefit from life-saving treatments and, with the help of the mosques and other organisations, try to arrange future events so we can achieve our objectives of increasing awareness of organ donation.”

Neerja Jain, Health Improvement Projects Manager at Kidney Research UK, said the blood pressure checks resulted in two people being advised to see their GP and several more given advice and information on how to manage their diabetes.

She said: “Over the course of three hours we engaged with many people and had a few interesting discussions. We signed up six people to the Organ Donor Register, and one person has also offered his help to the project.”

Dr Yassar Mustafa, an anaesthetics trainee, is one of a number of Peer Educators, drawn from the Pakistani Muslim community to raise awareness within their local community and encourage people to sign up as organ donors.

He said: “This is absolutely vital work and I was positively encouraged by how warmly we were received by the mosque attendees, of all races, both young and old. I would encourage others from the community to step forward and help raise this issue.”

Added Ms Jain: “We still need more Peer Educators who will be paid a fee for the 8-10 hours work per month expected of them till September 2015. The only criteria is that they are from the target community and are committed to this cause and passionate in promoting awareness.”

QEHB Consultant Nephrologist Dr Adnan Sharif, who is working to raise awareness about organ donation, said: “It is well known that there are a disproportionately high number of patients from this community who are waiting for life saving and life enhancing treatments and transplants.

“However, it is also well known that there are disproportionately few donors from this community.”

For further information about registering as an organ donor, please visit the organ donation website or call 0300 123 2323.

More information about Kidney Research UK can be found on their website or by contacting Neerja Jain on 0192 351 0196 or 0781 055 5844.