Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate he has made of the difference between BME organ donations and the level of demand for such donations.

As of 9 December 2016, there were 1,851 people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities waiting for an organ transplant. This represents around 29% of the active transplant list. Around 5% of all deceased organ donors came from BAME communities.

There are a number of specific initiatives to increase the number of organ donors from BAME communities. These include the National BAME Transplant Alliance to coordinate the work of BAME organisations working within these communities, a Peer Educator Project working with the Pakistani Muslim Community in Birmingham and the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets and NHS Blood and Transplant has developed a behaviour change campaign strategy in support of the Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020: A UK Strategy. This includes increasing its education and engagement activities with BAME communities and a Faith Action Plan outlining action to work in partnership with faith leaders.