BAME Blood, Stem Cell and Organ Donation Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Afzal Khan
Main Page: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)Department Debates - View all Afzal Khan's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
BAME Blood, Stem Cell and Organ Donation
Afzal Khan Excerpts(6 years, 5 months ago)
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Mohammad Yasin
My hon. Friend makes a very good point. I recognise the work that he has done as the chair of the APPG on stem cells. This is a very important issue, and that is why we are having this debate today.
Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. Those from the BAME community make up 5% of blood donors, yet they make up 14% of the population. The Imam Hussain Blood Donation Campaign was set up in my own city of Manchester; it has had a tremendous success rate of 3,408 donations. To be successful, it is important to ensure that cultural initiatives such as that are taken, so that we can carry on with improvements. If not, we will carry on experiencing difficulties.
Mohammad Yasin
My hon. Friend makes an important point and I will refer to similar points later in my speech.
Sadly, despite receiving a transplant, Rakesh’s condition, MDS, was so advanced that he died in December 2014, leaving Poonam and their two young children. After Rakesh’s death, Poonam decided to raise funds for Anthony Nolan and raise awareness among people from south Asia and other ethnic minority backgrounds about stem cell donations.