Christopher Brown is a clinical nephrologist and serves on the Lifeline of Ohio governing board.
As a nephrologist who has spent nearly 20 years caring for people with kidney disease, I want to call out the health disparities the Black community faces in organ donation.
I see the devastating impact of this inequity every day.
The need for organ donation is great: More than 100,000 people across the U.S. are waiting for a transplant, including nearly 3,000 Ohioans. More than 6,000 Americans — about 17 people a day — die each year while waiting.
The figures are even more staggering for Black people.
African Americans are three times more likely to need a transplant than any other ethnicity but wait, on average, a year longer to receive one.
A 2022 report on this topic by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found that African American patients are less likely to be referred for transplant evaluation and less likely to be added to the transplant waiting list, both critical gateways to receiving a needed organ transplant.
These are my patients, my family members, my friends — my community.
We must close the gap
The medical community is working to close that gap, by building more trust with all patients — especially Black patients. We need to listen when they share the challenges they face and proactively share ways for them to prevent disease.
We need more people to say yes to organ donation — from all communities.
In my own practice, I work to empower my patients.
My goal is to prevent organ disease, to slow down the progression of kidney failure and to proactively refer patients for transplant before they are dependent on dialysis. I bring a special perspective to those I serve, not just as a physician, but as a Black man who came from humble beginnings with limited resources growing up. My patients trust me, and I hold that trust sacred.
That is part of why in 2018, I joined the African American Advisory Council at Lifeline of Ohio, the local organ recovery organization in Columbus, where I helped build advocacy and understanding about organ donation in the Black community. In 2023, I joined the governing board of Lifeline of Ohio to support the work they have done for nearly 20 years to provide outreach and support to the Black community and address donation disparities.
Most recently, in partnership with the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Columbus, Lifeline of Ohio launched Rooted In Life — a campaign that uses powerful storytelling to humanize donation and raise awareness for the impact of saying yes. As an active member of the the National Pan-Hellenic Council, I understand the impact of Black leadership on the community and the opportunity this campaign has to inspire lifesaving decisions to say yes to donation.
You can change lives
One person can save eight lives through organ donation, and I encourage each person reading this to register as an organ donor and to talk with those you love about your choice. Ohioans can register online, by mail or in person at a local Bureau of Motor Vehicles with a valid license or state ID.
Over the years, I’ve watched patients, friends and family receive the life-changing call that they’ve been matched for an organ transplant. Their transplant journey is transformational — from severe illness to a second chance at a new life — a chance to return to work or start a business, to be active in the community, to take care of their children or even start a family.
Organ donation offers great hope for the patients and families I care for daily: hope for more time, hope for a second chance at life and hope for a healthy, thriving community.
For me, these moments bring an intense mixture of emotion — joy for a person given a second chance at life and solemn gratitude for the generous hero who decided to save another.
I have hope that with empowerment, awareness and understanding we will reduce the disparities and save more lives.
Christopher Brown is a clinical nephrologist and serves on the Lifeline of Ohio governing board.
