A new initiative aimed at increasing the number of Black Americans registered as organ donors and combating disparities among transplant recipients was announced recently.
A new initiative aimed at increasing the number of Black Americans registered as organ donors and combating disparities among transplant recipients was announced Thursday by a coalition that includes the four medical schools at the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities.
The HBCU consortium behind the initiative includes the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Sciences in Los Angeles, Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. “At the heart of all this is the profound disparity in transplants that are given and performed on African Americans versus whites in our country, and it’s a long-standing problem and issue,” said Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College, in an interview with The Associated Press.
But the HBCU collaboration has since grown and they have identified kidney transplants and donations as an area of concern because Black nephrologists — doctors who diagnose and treat acute and chronic kidney problems — account for less than 7% of the industry and only 5.5% of transplant surgeons are Black.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, Black Americans make up the largest group among people of color in the United States who are in need of organ transplants. Black Americans are almost four times as likely as white Americans to develop kidney failure, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
“By the time they get on the list, there’s a great deal of urgency. And because of the long waits, many of them, of course, don’t make it to get a transplant,” Hildreth said of Black candidates.
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