Organ and Tissue Donation in Multicultural Communities

Today, as we honor and remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his unwavering dedication to civil rights and equality, one particular quote of his stands out: “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhuman.”

This fall, we had the privilege of attending the national Association for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation (AMAT) conference in Texas.  The meeting provided the opportunity to address multicultural disparities in the donation and transplantation industry, and discuss potential solutions with our colleagues.

When it came to community outreach and empowerment among multicultural communities we had to stop and ask ourselves: “What are we doing for others?”  The result of this question was the formation of a multicultural committee within our organization to identify regional specific ethnic disparities in our field, and work together to help solve the minority donor shortage.

We would like to thank AMAT for their continued guidance and education as we work to pursue this mission. Click here to checkout AMAT’s recent blog post by Dr. Clive Callender as he discusses this issue and how AMAT and Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP) has helped close the gap for minorities in the donation and transplantation field.