National Minority Donor Awareness Day Date in the current year: August 1, 2024

Although its possible for two people of different races or ethnicities to be compatible as donor and recipient, some of the critical qualities for donor and recipient matching are more likely to be found among people of the same ethnicity. Due to this, Black, Asian and minority ethnic patients typically have to wait much longer than white patients to find a suitably matched donor.

According to statistics, about 60% of patients waiting for an organ transplant in the United States are ethic minorities but minority donors represent only about 30% of all donors. This is why diversity in organ donation matters; greater diversity of donors means better access to transplantation for all patients regardless of their ethic background.

National Minority Donor Awareness Day is the first day of National Minority Donor Awareness Week that was launched in 1996 by the National Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Program (MOTTEP), an educational initiative that works to increase minority participation in organ and tissue transplant endeavors.

Since its inception, the awareness campaign has expanded to National Minority Donor Awareness Month coordinated by the National (Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation) Multicultural Action Group (NMAG), an association of organizations that strive to create a positive culture of donation in diverse multicultural communities and increase the number of African American, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander and Native American living organ donors.

The two main aspects of the National Minority Donor Awareness Month campaign are encouraging minorities to donate organs and tissues and working to prevent diseases that create the need for organ transplantation. Minorities are disproportionately affected by most of the major chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus, hypertension and more. Due to these diseases, minority patients are at an increased need for heart, kidney, liver, and pancreas transplants.

This is why it is important not just to increase the number of minority donors, but to address chronic diseases in minorities, improve healthcare quality for racial/ethnic minorities in order to reduce the need for transplantation, and encourage the general public to live healthier in order to reduce the number of patients in need of a transplant.

There are many ways to get involved with National Minority Donor Awareness Day. You can learn more about organ donation in minority communities, register as an organ, eye and tissue donor (even if you’re not a minority, it’s a good thing to do because all organs can save someone’s life), organize an event in your community to raise awareness about organ donation, and spread the word on social media with the hashtags #MinorityDonorAwarenessDay, #NationalMinorityDonorAwarenessDay and #DonationIsColorBlind.