Last year around 2,400 people in the UK benefited from an organ transplant, but more than 1,000 people die every year waiting for a transplant. Members of ethnic minority communities are especially hard hit by organ shortages for donations.

Glenis Willmott, Labour MEP, has raised the issue of organ shortage in the European Parliament: “A few people with rare tissue types may only be able to receive a well-matched organ from someone of the same ethnic origin, so it is important that people from all ethnic backgrounds donate organs.

Successful transplants are carried out between people from different ethnic groups wherever the matching criteria are met.” The European Parliament will vote today on a report by the Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, which identifies organ shortage as a common problem in all European countries.

However, the report highlights especially the need for ethnic minority organ donors to come forward. Glenis Willmott MEP said: “People from South Asian, African and African-Caribbean communities living in the UK have a greater chance of needing a kidney transplant than other groups in the population.

This is because they are more likely to develop diabetes or high blood pressure, both of which are major causes of kidney failure.” MEPs are also addressing a wide range of issues, including a European donor card, to tackle problems like organ shortage, transplantation safety and organ trafficking.