A GLASGOW pharmacist who donated her kidney to her mother has urged other people from minority backgrounds to consider doing the same.

Syma Shahzad, 40, left, donated the organ to Anees Haq in 2008 in a bid to temper the effects of dialysis after her mother was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease the year before.

She said there are “so many challenges around mindset and conflicting religious knowledge” in the Muslim community.

NHS statistics show black and Asian people are at a greater risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and some forms of hepatitis which could have an impact on the kidney, eventually requiring a transplant.

Transplants from donors from the same ethnicity are regularly more successful, according to the NHS.

Speaking ahead of World Kidney Day tomorrow, Ms Shahzad said: “Being Muslim, there’s a lot of stigma attached to organ donation.

“I believe I wasn’t doing anything to put myself in danger, I was simply helping give my mother a better quality of life.

“I would encourage anyone who’s unsure about their stance on organ donation to sit down and consider what would happen if it was someone in your family who needed a transplant.

“Having been through it with my mother, if I could I’d do the same for anyone else in that situation.”