The process of organ transplantation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is still far from satisfactory, so a large number of patients decide to transplant organs abroad. However, after the procedure, it happens that when they return to our country, they encounter the problem of obtaining medicines.
BiH is one of the rare countries where the authorities almost do not give importance to the process of organ transplantation. Last year, only eight procedures were performed, while in three months of 2023, only two organs were transplanted.
The waiting lists are getting longer every day, and together with them, the number of appeals to collect funds for seriously ill patients who see a new chance for life in one of the foreign health centers is also increasing.
From the Association of Dialysis and Transplant Patients of the Federation of BiH (FBiH), they quite justifiably expressed their dissatisfaction.
“Since the beginning of this year, we have had only two transplantations, one related and one unrelated, and they were performed at the University Clinical Center in Tuzla. We have no information that the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo performed a transplantation this year, which makes us very sad because it’s the center that performed this type of procedure back in 1974, right after Belgrade and Ljubljana. They completely failed,” Tomislav Zuljevic, president of the Association of Dialysis and Transplant Patients of the FBiH, told.
Almost a year and a half ago, the last cadaveric, i.e., organ transplant from a deceased person was performed in our country, which represents the right choice for such procedures. For the sake of comparison, in contrast to our country, in Croatia, 95 percent of transplants are performed precisely by removing organs from a deceased person.
Transplantation tourism and the potential problems it brings with it
From the Association of Dialysis and Transplant Patients of the FBiH, they particularly point to the problem of transplant tourism, which is also present in our country. It implies the departure of an increasing number of patients to foreign clinics, where they perform organ transplantations, and according to past experiences, after returning to BiH, they often face the problem of obtaining adequate medicines.
“Those abroad receive therapy prescribed by foreign doctors, and after returning to BiH they go to our clinical centers for an examination, the doctor is not allowed to change their therapy but leaves it the same. Then when they come to the pharmacy, they encounter a problem because we do not have such medicines on list. That’s a big problem,” Zuljevic points out.
The problem of the non-existence of the state Ministry of Health
It is worth saying that BiH is not part of Eurotransplant because it does not have a Ministry of Health at the state level, and the divisions by entities and cantons that exist in this system are a major aggravating circumstance.
In the Association of Dialysis and Transplant Patients of the FBiH, they claim that there is money and professional staff for a significantly larger number of procedures of this type, but that there is not enough interest to improve the entire process, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
