School Sampler, Public Health, Fall 1998

Stephen Thomas (left), Jennie Perryman, and Dean James Curran are co-chairs of the new commission, which will address a critical shortage of organ donations from African Americans in Georgia.

f the approximately 900 candidates waiting for transplants in Georgia, some 60% are African Americans. Yet, as the number of African Americans needing transplants has grown, the percentage of organ donors am

ong this group has decreased.

There is a higher percentage of blacks on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting list than there are cadaveric donations from blacks. Yet, organs from African-American donors generally make a better match in compatibility for blacks needing trans

plants than do organs from whites, contributing to the problem.

The crisis created by the shortage of donors highlights a problem fueled by religious beliefs, mistrust of the medical research establishment, and misunderstanding about the benefits of transplantation, according to Stephen Thomas, principal investigat

or of a new project funded by the Carlos and Marguerite Mason Trust. “The Georgia Leadership Commission on Organ Donation Among African Americans is designed to increase organ, tissue, blood, and marrow transplantation among African Americans in Georgia,”

says Thomas, an associate professor at the school and director of the Institute for Minority Health Research.

The three-year project is a collaboration of the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory’s Center for Transplantation, and community partners that include the American Red Cross, Clark Atlanta University, LifeLink of Georgia, the Mental Health Associati

on of Metropolitan Atlanta, and the Association of Black Cardiologists.

To accomplish its goal, the commission staff are conducting a national assessment of strategies designed to increase donations from African Americans. The commission – composed of opinion leaders from the African-American community, donor families, tra

nsplant recipients, and organ procurement agencies – will conduct a national assessment of the best practice strategies to learn more about what works to overcome barriers to transplantation in the black community. This committee will also serve as the pr

imary forum for public deliberation, making recommendations on how to disseminate the project’s findings throughout Georgia.

In addition to inquiries about behavioral strategies, the committee will seek answers to complicated scientific questions, such as 1) why a higher percentage of African Americans compared to whites are in need of transplants, and 2) why African-America

n donors make better matches for African Americans who require a transplant.

Other objectives of the project include establishment of a visiting lecture series designed to stimulate critical thinking about the social context in which blacks make decisions about organ donation. The commission will conduct hearings throughout Geo

rgia to gather testimony from health care providers, opinion leaders, and patients to help determine the issues and challenges to African-American organ donation. Finally, the project will produce a training and dissemination module for transplant center

coordinators, organ procurement outreach workers, and civic organizations to ensure that the lessons learned reach the citizens of Georgia.

The commission also hopes to increase organ donation for both live and cadaveric black donors, including donations of blood, according to co-investigator Jennie Perryman, director of the Emory Center for Transplantation. “The decreased availability of

blood from African-American donors often extends the time blacks spend on the waiting list for transplants,” Perryman says.

However, “the donor shortage problem in Georgia is a problem with a solution,” says Thomas. “The Georgia Leadership Commission represents a significant step in increasing donations through the careful evaluation of existing programs and dissemination o

f promising strategies.” For the first time in Georgia, the project will apply a public health approach to this national crisis.