NJ Congressman With Diabetes Makes Plea To Minority Organ Donors

NEW JERSEY — The following op-ed comes courtesy of U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-10). Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

As a Black man with diabetes, I must deal with daily health complications. I must monitor my blood glucose levels or suffer from rapid energy swings that could cause severe fatigue within minutes. In addition, I must schedule dialysis treatments three to four times per week to filter out the toxins from my blood and circulatory system. These issues would disappear if I could get a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, healthy kidneys are in short supply, especially if you are a Black patient.

Right now, there are more than 105,000 Americans awaiting a kidney transplant on the National Organ Transplant waiting list and more than 60 percent of them are minorities. During National Minority Donor Awareness Month, it is important to highlight the critical need for organ donation and encourage more minorities to become donors themselves.

Our country needs more minority donors. Minorities are far more likely to suffer from serious medical conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, than White Americans. The number of Black Americans who have kidney failure from high blood pressure is 20 times higher than White Americans. However, minorities are less likely to receive an organ donation compared to their white counterparts. Today, only one out of every four Black Americans in need of an organ transplant are going to get one, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. In comparison, almost half of White Americans in need of an organ will get one. When Black Americans do get a donated organ, they must deal with additional problems. White Americans are twice as likely to get an organ from a living donor instead of a deceased one and more than 80 percent of Black American patients receive an organ from a deceased donor. It is a troubling statistic where it concerns kidney donation because living donors have a higher success rate and rarely suffer complications after a donation.

As a Black man who needs a donated kidney, I want to take this opportunity during National Minority Donor Awareness Month to encourage minorities nationwide to think about becoming a donor. Research shows that patients recover faster and have less complications when they receive an organ from a donor that matches their race or ethnicity. If we could double the number of minorities who donate kidney as other organs, we could save thousands of lives every year. If you are thinking about becoming an organ donor, know that your courage and generosity will make a life-saving difference to someone in grave need.

Obviously, organ donation is a very personal matter to me. I can only imagine a day when I can walk out of a dialysis clinic for the last time. That is why the awareness of organ donation created during National Minority Donor Awareness Month is crucial to organ, eye and tissue donor registries in minority communities. It is the most effective way to diversify and increase the number of organ donors nationwide. During National Minority Donor Awareness Month, I would like everyone to take a few moments to consider the benefits of being an organ donor. Talk to your doctor or other health care professionals about any concerns you might have. Then take the brave and bold step to become an organ donor. The life you save could be mine.

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