For a variety of personal, cultural and religious reasons, some people have difficulties with the idea of organ transplants. They are reluctant to agree to the idea of their own or any of their relatives' organs being removed after their death, to be put into someone else's body.

When a substantial number of people take that view the inevitable result is a shortage of organs. That is what has happened in Bradford, where many Asian patients are awaiting kidney transplants. The best match for them would be from people with a similar ethnic background, yet no organs are becoming available.

In fact there have been no organ transplants for three months in Bradford, where 60 people are awaiting the chance to have their lives transformed by this major but routine operation. That leaves the affected patients struggling to cope with dialysis which, while it keeps them alive, does not give them anything like the quality of life they could expect after a transplant.

It is obviously very important that the new campaign by the Department of Health aimed at persuading members of the Asian community to adopt a different attitude towards transplants reaches its target. Those who feel that organ donation is unacceptable need to be persuaded to change their views.

At the end of the day those people and families who make this difficult decision could be saving, or greatly improving, the lives of not just one person but three or four. And one day that person waiting for an organ match could be themselves or someone very dear to them.