UK announces new organ donation plan to address Indian-origin shortages

The UK government has announced new plans to change the law for organ and tissue donation to address the urgent need for organs within the Indian-origin communities in the country. 

The proposed new system of consent for organ and tissue donation is expected to come into effect in England in 2020, as part of a drive to help black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people desperately waiting for a life-saving transplant.

The



announcement comes as a recent report called on the National Health Service (NHS) to take more proactive action to address the high death rate among Indian-origin people in Britain due to low levels of organ donation within the community. 

NHS found that 21 per cent of people who died on the organ donation waiting list in the UK last year were from a BAME background, compared with 15 per cent a decade ago.