Development of the Croatian model of organ donation and transplantation

Abstract

During the past ten years, the efforts to improve and organize the national transplantation system in Croatia have resulted in a steadily growing donor rate, which reached its highest level in 2011, with 33.6 utilized donors per million population (p.m.p.). Nowadays, Croatia is one of the leading countries in the world according to deceased donation and transplantation rates. Between 2008 and 2011, the waiting list for kidney transplantation decreased by 37.2% (from 430 to 270 persons waiting for a transplant) and the median waiting time decreased from 46 to 24 months. The Croatian model has been internationally recognized as successful and there are plans for its implementation in other countries. We analyzed the key factors that contributed to the development of this successful model for organ donation and transplantation. These are primarily the appointment of hospital and national transplant coordinators, implementation of a new financial model with donor hospital reimbursement, public awareness campaign, international cooperation, adoption of new legislation, and implementation of a donor quality assurance program. The selection of key factors is based on the authors' opinions; we are open for further discussion and propose systematic research into the issue.

Interactive online survey raises awareness about cornea donation

“…Greece, along with other European countries such as Italy, Norway, Croatia and Bulgaria, has adopted a ‘soft’ opt-out system (table 5). 10 17–20…”

“…In fact, countries with opt-out systems similar to Greece like Croatia, Italy and Norway have much higher rates, almost equal to those of ‘hard’ (ie, where approval of the family is not regularly required) opt-out countries like Austria, Belgium and Spain (table 5). 10 17–20 Moreover, countries with opt-in systems like USA or the UK have among the highest procurement rates for organ donation (table 5). 10 17–20…”

The state of kidney transplantation in South Africa

“…The introduction of deemed consent policies was considered less critical, an important consideration in the culturally and ethnically diverse population of SA. [20][21][22] SA is moving towards universal health coverage in an effort to provide more equitable access to healthcare; the White Paper lists dialysis and transplantation as services that will be offered, and this may provide an opportunity for protagonists to influence policy to facilitate organ donation and promote kidney transplantation. [23] The affordability of the policy is uncertain, however, and it may be decades before universal access is fully realised.…”

Pristanak Obitelji Za Uzimanjem Organa Ili Tkiva Od Preminule Osobe Radi Presađivanja U Republici Hrvatskoj

“…30 Navedenu Deklaraciju donijeli su Međunarodno transplantacijsko udruženje (TTS) i Međunarodno udruženje nefrologa (ISN) te predstavlja potvrdu etičkih načela postavljenih na sastanku u svibnju 2008. u Istanbulu, na kojem je bilo nazočno 150 istaknutih liječnika, dužnosnika, znanstvenika, etičara i pravnika iz 78 zemalja i 20 međunarodnih organizacija. 31 Iako soft law, Istanbulska deklaracija postaje jedan od glavnih međunarodnih pravnih izvora u području trgovine organima, točno definirajući što sve obuhvaća trgovina organima, što je velik pomak u želji da se stvori među-narodni dokument u kojem će postojati i obvezujuća zajednička definicija što sve obuhvaća trgovanje dijelovima ljudskog tijela. 32 …”