Major faith leaders in the UK have united to launch a new action plan aimed at boosting organ donation rates among religious communities, especially among Asian and minority ethnic people.
The Faith Engagement and Organ Donation Action Plan, which was developed by religious leaders in partnership with the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), will see a range of initiatives employed to tackle faith-related barriers to organ donation and urge followers to actively support donation.
The Plan, which is authored by Gurch Randhawa, Professor of Diversity in Public Health at the University of Bedfordshire, is the culmination of several months of work to bring together ideas from different religious perspectives.
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The process started with a multi-faith summit, which was held by the NHSBT in May 2013. The summit, which was thought to be the first of its kind, saw a 40-strong delegation of religious leaders come together to explore barriers to organ donation and ways to increase donation rates.
Prof Randhawa and NHSBT worked with the leaders to record, develop and refine their suggestions, before presenting them in the Faith Engagement and Organ Donation Action Plan.
The plan includes a commitment from faith leaders and a review of the languages that NHSBT's leaflets are translated into to reflect the UK's increasingly diverse population. It is hoped this will help tackle a common area of concern and misunderstanding among some religions.
The Faith Action Plan is specifically aimed at increasing organ donation rates among faith communities, which comprise followers from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.
It is particularly hoped that the plan will increase donation rates among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in the UK, given the urgent need for more organ donors from these communities.
A total of 1,212 people donated their organs after death in the UK during 2012-13, but just 56 of those were from BAME communities.
Prof Randhawa said: "It is so important for members of the public to discuss organ donation with their family and I am delighted that faith communities are supporting this endeavour."
NHSBT's Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation, Sally Johnson, said: "Religious beliefs can play a major role in an individual's decision to donate organs.
"We have been working closely with many of the leading faith groups in the UK to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation, particularly within black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.
"Right now there is an urgent need to encourage more people from BAME communities to join the NHS Organ Donor Register and share their donation decision with their loved ones.
