It has been done a lot so far in relation to raising awareness of the importance of transplantation medicine and organ donation in Montenegro, as well as of transplantation of organs from cadaveric donors. Vesna Miranović, General director of the Directorate for healthcare protection control and improvement of human resources in the domain of healthcare said that we had only one cadaveric donor in six years time and that data shows how “efficient” the activities done so far have been.
“This is a warning, and an indicator that work on raising awareness must be carried out continuously and systematically, while using experiences of those who are successful in this matter. And that’s the most difficult part of the task, since you have to reach out to somebody who is losing somebody he/she loves and illustrate the importance of organ donation. This must be done much earlier than the critical moment”, says Miranović.
The diagnosis of brain deaths has existed in the Clinical Center of Montenegro since 2012. According to the Rule book of the brain deaths, after the brain death has been confirmed, the family of the deceased must give consent to organ donation but the rejection rate is still very high.
“It is necessary to attach a more human dimension to organ donation and convince citizens that it is a very efficient way for the people who received the organ to live better life”, says Miranović.
Waiting list for the transplantation of kidneys counts 30 patients, there are 10 who are waiting for liver transplantation and two patients waiting for heart transplantation. The numbers are changing constantly.
“Due to specific health conditions, some patients might be taken out from the waiting list. That’s temporary, until the medical problem is solved”, explains Miranović.
Montenegro has adopted some good legal solutions which are in accordance with positive international practice. We should be working on this complex program continuously, since it is a reflection of the entire system.
In the majority of countries, the family must give consent to organ donation after the brain death. The system in Montenegro is working and it will keep working on raising awareness of the importance of organ donation after death.
Ever since 2012, there has been 35 kidney transplants- 34 from related donor and one from cadaveric donor.
“Two patients were addressed abroad for kidney transplantation, to Moscow both of them, and the costs of the treatment were covered by Health Insurance Fund”, said Miranović.
During 2018, there have been three kidney transplants, from living related donor and none from the cadaveric donor.
