Why Black Africans have more kidney problems in UK – Dela Idowu

In this interview, Dela Idowu, the founder of Gift of Living Donation, a charity established to raise awareness of the benefits of living donation, tells BIODUN BUSARI why chronic kidney disease is prevalent among Nigerians and blacks in the UK

What is the idea behind the kidney donation initiative you founded in the United Kingdom?

My name is Dela Idowu. I’m the founder of the Gift of Living Donation and the Black Living Donor Choir. I set up these two initiatives after coming forward as a living kidney donor for my brother, who had a kidney disease. I didn’t want him to spend four to five years on dialysis, which is almost the average for the African and Caribbean communities in the UK. In 2011, I came forward for him, but unfortunately, I could not proceed because we did not match. However I wanted to use the experience to raise awareness of kidney disease and living donation within the Black African and Caribbean community in the UK.

How has the experience been since the inception of the initiative?

One of the reasons I set up these initiatives for the African and Caribbean communities was to reduce the number of people who are diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and to reduce their time on dialysis. When someone is from the African or Caribbean community, the person can spend up to four or five years on dialysis here (in the UK). This is not because we don’t have black living donors but based on unawareness. So, what we do is to raise awareness on donations. This is where someone can donate a kidney for their family or friends so they can have a transplant. It’s absolutely a safe operation. That’s the best treatment option for somebody with kidney disease instead of going on dialysis.

What is the role of the Black Living Donor Choir in this?

There are two programmes as I mentioned. The first one is our cheap programme, community hospital, and also patients and support. This is where we have kidney transplants. However, our choir is our community, which we use to raise awareness in the black community as we combine music and songs to tell donor stories. Every member of the choir has donated one of their kidneys to either their friends, family, or even strangers. Using that combination of their stories and music is absolutely a fantastic way to raise awareness and educate people. At the same time, we are entertaining them. With this, we have a lot of people coming forward as donors through the choir because it’s entertaining. And it’s a true life experience.

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