English

Montenegro to renew Agreement on Exchange of Human Organs with Croatia

Montenegro’s Ministry of Health has sent a letter of intent to the Ministry of Foreign affairs stating that it wants to renew agreement in the area of transplant medicine with Croatia, Ms Vesna Miranović, Minister’s assistant.

Agreement on Eurotransplant signed with Croatia in 2017, which defines conditions concerning international exchange of organs, ceased to apply in November last year.

“Due to Croatia’s administration, we found out about the breach of agreement through a patient, who had papers saying that the agreement was not valid anymore. That’s not the way, of course. Interstate agreements cannot be given to the interested party, a patient in a procedure, but to the institution that concluded the agreement”, Ms Miranović said.

And now she elaborates further.

On 29 October 2013, Montenegro’s Ministry of Health and Croatia’s Ministry of Health concluded the Protocol on the cooperation in the area of human organs transplantation. The agreement was concluded for the period of two years.

After two-year break, on 7 November 2017, new Protocol on cooperation in the area of transplant medicine was concluded for the same period.

“It is our interest to renew agreements with Croatia, but this time on different grounds. We want durable cooperation”, Ms Miranović explains.

Specificity of small countries

Ms Miranović points out that specificity of small countries is usually reflected in the area of medicine.

“Smaller countries appreciate life in danger more. Therefore, the initiative on strengthening cooperation among WB countries should be used. Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received the letter of intent. Also, we are communicating with Dr Mirela Bušić, National coordinator for organ transplantation in Croatia, who fully supports our endeavors to make progress in this area”, Ms Miranović says.

Improvement of the national transplantation system

Ms Miranović says that the first direct contact with Eurotransplant was made by conclusion of Bilateral Agreement on the Exchange of Organs, signed in July 2018. This Agreement has set conditions for another agreement within Eurotransplant, the so called Teaching and Training Agreement  – TTA).

Ms Miranović explains that the task of a Eurotransplant member state would be to educate Montenegrin healthcare employees, with the aim of improving national transplantation system.

“Patients from our country would be on the waiting list. On 25 October 2018, Ministry of Health launched an initiative for the conclusion of TTA with Croatia. After we took into consideration requirements Eurotransplant set, we decided to  temporarily go back on conclusion of this Agreement”, Ms Miranović says.

She adds that they focused on the activities aimed at making the project of transplant medicine as sustainable as possible.

Approval of Eurotransplant

Ms Miranović says that Ministry of Health has tasked doctors in the Clinical Centre with preparing document in the form of a design brief, which would contain special requirements for training and the estimated deadline of TTA program for heart, kidneys and liver and then delivering it to the competent Eurotransplant Committee for approval.

According to Ms Miranović, the role of the Ministry of Health is crucial for creating favorable ambiance for organ donation.

“However, there’s a serious sociological question to be answered – who thinks has the duty to look for essential reasons why an average Montenegrin citizen would agree to receive an organ bur refuses to give one when he/she isn’t alive anymore. Who has that right to create public view on this problem? We should acknowledge that transplant medicine is not a maturity exam only for the healthcare system, but for the entire society”, Ms Miranović says.

And she conveys a message.

“Basic requirement for the constancy of those agreements is to maintain balance between the amount of taken and returned organs. It’s not possible to only take organs. We are going to be in a problem until we all find effective social tools to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation”, Ms Miranović concluded.

 

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