“Croatia is a star,” says the Health Minister.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Eurotransplant, Health Minister Milan Kujundžić participated yesterday at the congress and a symposium in Noordwijk, Netherlands. The main topic was “Together in the Life Rescue Mission”, reports Jutarnji List on October 6, 2017.
“Croatia is really a star today, and for this we need to thank two groups of people – one are those who are no longer with us, those who have donated their organs, and their families, and the other group is a large team of medical staff involved in transplantations,” said Minister Kujundžić.
The likelihood of finding an adequate donor whose tissue is compatible with the recipient's body is minimal. This possibility increases if there is a central database of donors and of those who are waiting for transplantation and if it includes a large number of residents. This is precisely the reason why Eurotransplant was established. Croatia became a member in 2007.
Chairman of Eurotransplant Bruno Meiser also spoke about the Croatian model. “It is complicated to copy the Croatian model because it requires a high level of solidarity in society, an excellent organisation, highly skilled and dedicated emergency services which are active throughout the year and, above all, dedicated doctors and national coordinators who live for this job.”
In the last ten years since joining the organisation, Croatia has become the most successful member and one of the most successful countries in the world. In Croatia, there are between 350 and 400 organ transplantations per year, which is a very high average. By a series of indicators, Croatia is statistically the best country, not only in Europe but also in the world.
“In 2000, Croatia had 12 donors of organs, and now it has 147 donors a year,” said Mirela Bušić, the national coordinator for transplantation, during a presentation of Croatian achievements.
With 40 donors per million inhabitants, Croatia is the first in the world. The country is also at the first position in the world by the number of liver transplants, of which about 115 are performed each year, which means that Croatian patients have the highest availability of this type of transplantation, which is considered to be the most complex. By the number of liver transplantations, the Merkur Clinical Hospital in Zagreb is the largest centre in the Eurotransplant network.
The first kidney transplant in Croatia was performed 46 years ago, and now there are about hundred such transplantation a year, which makes Croatia the best. About 40 people get a heart, which makes Croatia the second best in the world.
Among all the Eurotransplant member countries (Austria, Germany, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary and Belgium), waiting times are the shortest in Croatia.
Translated from Jutarnji List.
