A panel of experts has met religious leaders in a drive to get more kidney donations from ethnic minorities.
Imams and scholars at the East London Mosque in Whitechapel Road heard that 300 adults from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background need kidney transplants in east London.
Kidney treatment expert Prof Magdi Yaqoob, Dr Ismail Mohamed, consultant transplant surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, and lecturer Dr Mansur Ali explained that there was a great need for donors.
A project involving volunteers spreading the message has launched in the borough after a similar scheme elsewhere saw 3,000 more donors sign up with the NHS.
Kidney Research UK and the council hosted the event.
Tower Hamlets mayor, John Biggs, said: “People may not know that poorly managed diabetes can often lead to kidney failure so we are urging people to start these conversations with their families.”
BAME patients face waiting eight to 12 months longer for a kidney transplant compared to white patients due to a lack of suitable donors putting them at an increased risk of dying.
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