“In the past three years, the number of donors has tripled in Serbia, but it is necessary to adopt a law that will signal that a national consensus has been reached on this important topic and that we have another confirmation that we have passed as a society exam of maturity and humanity. The law is salvation for about a thousand people, our citizens who have been waiting for years for the new liver, kidney or heart,” warns Hemofarm Foundation on the occasion of marking the National Donor Day.
This is the third year since the initiative of the Hemofarm Foundation, and within the campaign “The Most Important Call In Life”, the National Donor Day was established as the starting point for changing people’s awareness, demolition of prejudices and informing the public about this often taboo topic in our country. At the beginning of the campaign in 2016, Serbia had two (2), and at the beginning of this year, we recorded as many as six (6) donors per million inhabitants, which is a great success of this campaign.
The bill on the transplantation of human organs, according to which every citizen is a potential organ, unless expressly opposed to it during his lifetime, will soon be voted before the deputies of the Serbian Parliament.
“This year is crucial for passing the law on organ transplantation, and it will be the best confirmation of all the efforts of the initiator of the campaign” The Most Important Call In Life “. In Serbia, there is still a small number of donors, and therefore we need to talk about this subject openly and without prejudice to preserve human lives. Adopting the new law is a way for Serbia to show its best person on the European map of humanity, “said Ronald Seeliger, general manager of Hemofarm who owns two donor cards, both in Germany and Serbia.
According to data from this year, 41 patients in Serbia need liver transplantation, 39 waiting for heart transplantation, and the 750 new kidneys are the only salvation. Among them is Sanja Bojić, who has been fighting for life for eight years and is waiting for her most important phone call.
“The lives of people from the waiting list are spinning in a vicious circle of therapy, dialysis, and waiting for a donor to appear. That donor is saving us for the four of us who are waiting. Therefore, I appeal to MPs and society as soon as possible that law on organ transplantation is adopted, which increases the donor circle and prolongs the lives of all of us,” said Sanja Bojić.
Serbia needs at least ten donors per million inhabitants to disappear waiting lists for transplantation, which would be possible by changing legislation and adopting the law as mentioned earlier introducing the presumed consent of organ donors.