06. June 2024.
Serbia marks the National Donor Day with the list of more than 2,000 people still waiting for the most important call in life, for a donor and organ transplant. Most of them, unfortunately, do not live enough to receive the call that means life to them.
The national campaign implemented by the Ministry of Health of Serbia in partnership with Hemofarm Foundation and patient associations, strives to raise people’s awareness about the importance of organ donation and transplantation, but also passing of a law which would regulate this field and membership of Serbia in Eurotransplant.
„Every day, more than two thousand people are thinking about whether a donor will appear and whether they will survive in the coming period. Some of those people are our friends, cousins, neighbors. There is no other cure for them but to receive the organ in order to be able to continue living. We are all in favor of transplantation, and when it comes to saying ‘yes’ to donation and transplantation, we are nowhere to be found. It is time for all institutions, churches, organizations and individuals to get involved and speak out on this issue and support the adoption of the Law on Transplantation of Human Organs. The only way to help the people on the list is to pass a law and accept donation, which is why I am calling for national unity on this vitally important issue“, said Zlatibor Lončar, Minister of Health of Serbia.
„Recognizing the importance of donation, through this campaign The Most Important Call in Life, that we have been implementing since 2016, we wanted to give a chance for life to our fellow citizens who are waiting for the most important call in life. It has been shown that every time we put this topic in the public focus, the number of donors and transplants in Serbia increases. That was the case in 2016, 2019 and 2023. We are ready to once again support the state and society to finally resolve this issue in the interest of the lives of more than 2,000 people who are on the transplant list. There is still a long way to go to achieve our goal, because minimum ten donors are needed to one million inhabitants to clear the waiting list for organ transplant, due to which I invite you all to become a donor“, said Ronald Seeliger, CEO of Hemofarm.
„We welcome this year's National Donor Day with the minimum number of consents obtained and cadaveric transplants performed. For this reason, patients on the waiting list for organ transplant welcomed the news with great expectations and positive reactions that the Ministry of Health, the Hemofarm Foundation and the Association ‘Together for a New Life’ will launch a national campaign aimed at raising citizens' awareness of organ donation, which will lead to an increase in the number of performed transplants and saved lives. For all patients waiting for a transplant, this is a glimmer of hope that they will receive the most important call in life, because the state or the Ministry of Health decided to return the transplant program to the path it was on before the corona virus pandemic, when up to 60 cadaveric transplants were performed annually“, said Mladen Todić, the president of the association of patients waiting for the organ transplant „Together for a New Life“.
Only two transplantations have been performed in Serbia since the beginning of 2024, with one given consent for organ transplant. 11 families refused to donate the organs of their loved ones who experienced brain death. More than 2,000 people, among whom are around 40 children, are waiting for the new organ in Serbia.
