In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the first heart transplant should soon be performed, this was confirmed by Milan Gluhovic, specialist in internal medicine – cardiologist, president of the Working Group for Young Cardiologists, and youth ambassador of the European Association for Heart Failure in BiH for the past and current year.
He stated that it could be at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
He reminded how the citizens of BiH have been able to carry out such operations in the countries of the region until now. He cited Slovenia as a country that had a certain quota for patients who are not their citizens when it comes to heart transplants.
However, with the entry into the European Union (EU) and Eurotransplant, Slovenia and Croatia are no longer able to provide us with such services, because there is no reciprocity, i.e. not a single heart left BiH for these two countries.
Speaking about membership in the Eurotransplant Foundation, Dr. Gluhovic stated that there are initiatives for membership in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, but there is also a condition from Eurotransplant.
BiH must have ten donors per million inhabitants in its donor network, he emphasized, and BiH has not even come close to that number.
Gluhovic stated that our doctors and surgeons have knowledge, and they also have friends from the region who will help them with this.
He noted that kidney, liver and cornea transplants are already performed in our country, but the goal is to increase the number and he is sure that this is one of the steps to join Eurotransplant.