August is National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month. It is a collaborative initiative of the National (Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation) Multicultural Action Group (NMAG) to save and improve the quality of life of diverse communities by creating a positive culture for organ, eye, and tissue donation. National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month stems from National Minority Donor Awareness Week, founded in 1996 by the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP), to bring heightened awareness to donation and transplantation in multicultural communities – focusing primarily on African American, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander and Native American communities.
The national transplant waiting list currently stands at more than 100,000 people, 2,400 Virginians are waiting, with 60% of those waiting representing racial and ethnic minorities. 16 people die every day waiting for a transplant. The need for donation and transplant is more pronounced in minority communities where disproportionately higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease contribute to organ failure, especially kidney failure.
During National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month, everyone is encouraged to elevate the need for more organ, eye and tissue donors within multicultural communities, provide donation education, encourage donor registration, and promote healthy living and disease prevention to decrease the need for transplantation.
You can register your decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at the Virginia DMV or online here.
NMAG members include: American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB), the American Kidney Fund, Association for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation (AMAT), Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO), Donate Life America (DLA), Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA), Heath Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP) National Kidney Foundation (NKF), Student Organ Donation Advocates (SODA), The Links, Incorporated, the Transplant Life Foundation, University of Pittsburgh DEI Health Sciences, and the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).