london as part of the commonwealth games legacy 43 commonwealth countries and 19 national and international organisations have come together to share expertise in organ donation and transplantation to save more lives globallythe commonwealth tribute to life project led by nhs blood and transplant is the culmination of three years work and provides a framework for the sharing of knowledge and expertise to increase ethical organ donation and transplantation it seeks to further health equality for the benefit of all commonwealth citizenswe are delighted after three years of work to see so many of the organ donation and transplant community from around the world coming together in a shared commitment to improve organ donation rates and save more lives said dr satya sharma mbe deputy lord lieutenant of the west midlands who has chaired the projectthis memorandum of understanding unites us all in one shared vision for the future of organ donation and transplantation and has the ability to help us tackle the global issue of health inequalities he saidan official legacy project of birmingham 2022 commonwealth games and part of the games united by birmingham 2022 community programme the project presents a unique opportunity to increase levels of organ and tissue donation and transplantation globally to celebrate this occasion organ donation representatives from many of the countries who have signed up to a shared memorandum of understanding as well as transplant recipients and living donors from across the uk with commonwealth heritage have come together in a symbolic video that shows the team of volunteers passing a virtual heart around the world from the uk to barbados south africa canada bangladesh and australia among otherswherever you are in the world we urge you to talk to your friends and family and leave them certain of your organ donation decision through the gift of organ donation each one of us has the potential to save lives sharma saidin the leadup to the games several organ recipients and living donors were also selected to take part in the commonwealth games baton relay two of these participants nhs radiographer surinder sapal and makena strakersharpe feature in the new film the world health organisation global observatory on donation and transplantation estimates that there were over 146000 organs transplanted in 2018 worldwide this gift of life came from the generosity of over 40000 living donors and nearly 39000 deceased organ donorshowever the rate of donation varies from zero donors in some commonwealth nations to over 20 per million population in countries like australia canada malta and the ukyet in the united kingdom over 6400 people are waiting for an organ transplant and black asian mixed or other ethnic minority backgrounds represent around a third of those on the transplant listthe commonwealth of nations simply referred to as the commonwealth is a political association of 56 member states the vast majority of which are former territories of the british empire after india the nextlargest commonwealth countries by population are pakistan nigeria bangladesh and