Awareness about organ donation especially kidney donation in Nurpur Shahan, a rural community area in Islamabad, Pakistan

To assess the level of awareness and ethical issues related to organ donation especially kidney donation and the willingness to donate a kidney among the rural population of Pakistan. A cross sectional study was conducted in a sample of 324 subjects residing in Nurpur Shahan by means of a pre tested questionnaire. Data collection was carried out via a face to face interview and the data was analyzed using SPSS 10.0 and associations were tested using the Chi-square test. Knowledge about organ donation was significantly associated with age (p = 0.00) and education (p = 0.024). Allowance of organ donation in religion was an important factor in determining the attitude of individuals towards organ donation and their willingness to donate. Media emerged as a major source of information for the population of Nurpur Shahan; kidney was the organ most known for its donation. Most (69%) respondents did not consider organ vending to be ethically correct but a sizeable proportion (25%) thought it may be considered in times of dire need. Awareness of organ donation in our sample was high and more than half of the people were willing to become donors.