Block party seeks to increase organ transplant access for communities of color

More than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ donation, and organizers of a block party outside Howard University Hospital Sunday are hoping to break down health care barriers for people of color.

Talisha Taylor received an organ transplant in 2022 — she’s one of the few who got matched.

“I waited eight years for my liver,” Taylor said. “A long, hard eight years. It probably felt like 20 years in and out of the hospital all the time. For weeks at a time, I was in the hospital.”

Taylor ultimately received a transplant, but there’s a long list of people across the country waiting for an organ. That’s why Howard University Health Center partnered with Infinite Legacy and Black Health Connect to throw a Summer in the District Block Party.

“We recognize that the number one problem with transplantation is a shortage of donors,” said Dr. Clive Callender with the Minority Organ Teacher Transplant Ed. Program. “Seventeen people die every single day because of the shortage of donors, and the people who need organs and tissues the most are people of color, particularly African Americans.”

There are more than 116,000 requests for organ donations, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transportation Network, and 62% of people waiting for an organ are ethnic minorities.

Although donations are not matched by race or ethnicity, a more diverse pool of donors means more access for those on the waiting list, and that’s why groups are trying to reach out to communities to empower them about the impact of becoming an organ donor.

“When you get a letter that says, ‘Thank you for the donation,’ when you get a letter and that young adult that needed a kidney got a kidney, that older adult that needed a liver got the liver that they needed, that’s really when it hits home,” said Roger Mitchell Jr., president of Howard University Hospital. “We don’t realize how important that donating that liver or that kidney or that heart has on the person that receives it.”

Attendees of the block party were given access to health screenings, mental wellness support and giveaways.

“The major barriers to health care in a lot of communities, some people don’t even have access to primary care, understanding the minimum of their blood pressure rates, their diabetes or blood sugar levels,” said Duclas Charles, the founder of Black Health Connect.

The goal is not only to educate people about becoming an organ donor, but to prevent the need for donors in the future by promoting a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s good to get out and raise awareness about the cause,” Taylor said.

from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/SeaknIm