Asian people in Bradford who need organ transplants are languishing on long waiting lists because not enough donors from their ethnic background are coming forward.

There have been no organ transplants in Bradford in the last three months and the future is bleak as not enough donors can be found who match Asian patients. For a successful transplant a donor needs to be of the same ethnic background as the recipient.

The problem is compounded because Asians are three times more likely to develop conditions that lead to kidney failure.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust kidney specialist Dr Robin Jeffrey, who works in the renal unit at St Luke's Hospital, said: "Asian donors are as rare as hen's teeth.

"We have not had a transplant for about three months because of the lack of donors.

"In Bradford we have an enormous number of Asian patients waiting for a kidney transplant. More than 40 per cent of dialysis patients are Asian because they are more prone to renal failure.

"We have about 200 people on dialysis. About 60 of those are waiting for a transplant and about 50 per cent of them are Asian.

"The problem is that Asian people do not believe in being donors. It is wrapped up in their culture and religion and it is going to take a generation to change this."

Dr Jeffrey added that dialysis would keep patients alive but said they enjoyed a much better quality of life after having a kidney transplant.

Now the community is being called to action by the Department of Health which is writing to every GP in the country and targeting the ethnic media to make them aware of the situation.

Health Minister David Lammy said Asian people were dying waiting for a transplant.

"Due to a high rate of diabetes and high blood pressure amongst the Asian community, we estimate that in a few years time half the people on kidney dialysis may be Asian and in need of a transplant," he said.

Dilshad Khan, director of equality and diversity for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We support any initiative which is trying to help this situation and I hope the campaign has two aims.

"The first is to raise awareness and encourage more donors to come forward and the second is that it might alleviate any fears and anxieties people may have about becoming a donor."

Jamil Rehman, chief officer of Bradford Community Health Council, said he believed many people within the Asian community were unaware of the extent of the problem.

"There is a lack of communication between the Asian community and the health service," he said.

"Some people believe that by donating an organ they are going against their religion, but that is not the case."

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register call the Organ Donor Line, 0845 60 60 400, or visit the website www.nhs.uk/organdonor/thesolution