LOPA to Highlight Multiethnic Donor Awareness throughout August

LOPA is participating in National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month (NMDAM) to bring heightened awareness to health disparities, and organ donation and transplantation’s impact in multiethnic communities. 

While the gap between the demand for organ transplants and the supply of donated organs is the number one problem in transplantation as a whole, the disparity is greater in multiethnic communities. In Louisiana, nearly 68% of the waitlist is multiethnic--that is higher than the national average of 60%. 

“The need for donation and transplant is more pronounced in multiethnic communities. They have disproportionately higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease--all of which contribute to organ failure, especially kidney failure,” said LOPA Community Educator Cheryl McGee-Hills. 

In Louisiana, 72% of the kidney waitlist is multiethnic. According to the Organ Procurement Transplant Network (OPTN), there are twice as many African Americans in the state waiting for a kidney transplant than Whites. (Of the 1,749 people in Louisiana waiting for a kidney transplant, 1,183 are Black, 579 are White, 45 are Hispanic and 42 are Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native.)

National statistics show that African Americans are three times more likely than white Americans to have kidney failure, while Hispanics are 1.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to have kidney failure. African American transplant candidates also have longer wait times than non-African American transplant candidates for kidney, heart and lung transplants.

“These healthcare disparities are why efforts such as National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month are so important,” McGee-Hills said. 

*OPTN data as of July 31, 2023.