Organ donation in blacks: a community approach

Abstract

Our intent is to educate the black community about the dangers of hypertension and the need for kidney organ donors in a population that is uniquely affected by renal failure. The desired goal then is to stimulate the black community to: have annual blood pressure checks so that an early diagnosis of high blood pressure (hypertension) can be made and early treatment can be received; and become better informed about the "Gift of Life" concept and have family meetings in which donating organs after death is strongly considered. The adoption of these recommendations will likely result in a decrease in the incidence of renal disease, since the leading cause of renal disease in blacks is hypertension. This silent unrecognized killer produces renal failure in blacks 17 times more often than in whites. We expect that increasing the number of black organ donors will result in an improved success rate in black recipients of transplants from recently decreased persons. It is clear that the black community can play a major role in elucidating and, perhaps, eradicating this serious medical problem.