August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month (NMDAM), a collaborative initiative of the National Multicultural Action Group (NMAG), to save and improve the quality of life of diverse communities by creating a positive culture for eye, organ and tissue donation.
Each year, nearly 86,000 corneal transplants are performed to help restore sight. While people of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities should consider themselves potential eye, organ and tissue donors, it is true that different cultures have varying perspectives on eye donation.
During NMDAM, national organ donation organizations bring increased awareness to the need for more eye, organ and tissue donors within multicultural communities, provide donation education, inspire donor registration, and promote healthy living and disease prevention to reduce the need for transplantation.
Although donation and transplantation can take place successfully between individuals from different racial or ethnic groups, transplant success is often better when organs are matched between people of the same racial or ethnic background.
People of African American/Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native and multiracial descent currently make up nearly 58% of individuals on the national organ transplant waiting list. These communities are in great need of more organ and tissue donors.
Check out these FAQs from Donate Life America to get answers to all your questions and learn how all major religions support donation.
By registering your decision to be an eye, organ and tissue donor, you are helping to save lives and give hope to the more than 100,000 people in the United States currently waiting for lifesaving organ transplants. 60% of those on the transplant waiting list are from multicultural communities.
Join the donor registry to increase eye, organ and tissue donation in your community. One donor can save and heal more than 75 lives.
