The Sierra Leone Arts & Culture Festival (SLACfest) returns on 4th – 5th November, after a hiatus, with a two-day celebration taking place at Brixton Ho .
World Kidney Day: Black community receives funding to tackle health inequalities in organ and blood donation
WORLD KIDNEY DAY: Those from African and Caribbean communities are less likely to be organ or blood donors (Image via Getty Images)
THE BLACK community is to receive funding this World Kidney Day, as the government sponsors 35 community projects.
The projects have been granted a share of £600,000 which is to be distributed across black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities in the hopes of addressing the lack of organ donation in the community, particularly among kidney donors.
Funding is also expected to be used to increase blood donation in the black community, which can help treat patients with sickle cell.
Thirty-Five community projects in England have received a share of £600,000 funding as part of the Government’s commitment to tackle health inequalities in Black and Asian communities. The announcement of the funding aptly comes on World Kidney Day and aims to address the shortage of organs, particularly kidneys, for those waiting for a transplant from all Black, Asian, mixed heritage and minority ethnic backgrounds. Whilst also highlighting the need for more blood donors from a black background, whose blood is used to treat patients with conditions like sickle cell. The Community Investment Scheme, which is led by NHS Blood and Transplant, will fund local organisations to drive awareness, understanding and behaviour change. Having previously only focussed on promoting organ donation, the scheme has now been opened to include projects which also highlight the importance of blood donation.