Impact of a Direct approach to live kidney donation in the British Indo-Asian community

Although a general imbalance exists between the demand for renal transplants and the supply of suitable organs, the shortfall is particularly severe for patients from the Indo-Asian (I-A) community. It seems unlikely that this will be remedied by any increase in cadaveric donation. Our aim was to increase the rate of live donor transplantation (LDT) in the I-A population through a direct approach to patients and their families, in a culturally acceptable environment by an Asian transplant coordinator. Whereas an increase in LDT was seen in the I-A population over the period of review, 1997 to 2003, 15 compared with none prior to 1997, significant attrition was seen within the program, with only 10% of the original cohort coming to donation. There are multiple reasons for this including medical, social and psychological.