In Montenegro, 64 patients are waiting for a kidney transplant, and the list of those who need another organ includes another 35 people.
While individuals find salvation abroad, the transplant program at the Clinical Center of Montenegro (KCCG) was restarted in February.
The donor network remains weak, and the state, although an associate member of Eurotransplant, does not participate in organ exchange.
Irena Čabarkapa underwent a kidney transplant in Belarus last year and knows what it means to fight for life.
After 11 years of dialysis, last April she was able to travel to Minsk, Belarus for a kidney transplant.
"The way you imagine a healthcare system should function, that's how the healthcare system in Minsk functions. I paid for my transplant and it cost me almost 70.000 euros. So, that's travel tickets, the transplant, examinations, carrying the serum, it costs a lot," said Čabarkapa.
In the meantime, the practice has changed; kidney transplants in Belarus are now performed at state expense.
KCCG is pleased with the cooperation established last year with the Institute for Kidney Transplantation in Minsk.
"So far, a total of four patients have undergone so-called cadaveric kidney transplantation, and more than 15 patients have undergone so-called pre-transplantation treatment, which they have completed and are now waiting for an invitation for a kidney transplant in that country," said Elvir Mučić, director of the KCCG Nephrology Clinic.
There are 64 patients waiting for a kidney transplant in Montenegro, while another 35 patients are on the lists for transplants of other organs.
Since February, Montenegro has restarted its own transplant program.
"In KCCG, after the development, or rather the relaunch of the transplantation program, one kidney transplant was performed and two more are planned, and as for stem cell transplantation, two have been performed," said Mučić.
There is still room for progress, says Čabarkapa. Although he welcomes the fact that the state now covers the costs of kidney transplants in Belarus, he reminds that Montenegro, although formally affiliated with Eurotransplant, does not actually participate in its organ exchange system.
"Eurotransplant is an organization that deals exclusively with organ donation and operates on the principle of reciprocity, which means that Montenegro, since it has not had cadaveric donations for six years, does not participate in the Eurotransplant program. This particularly affects patients who have both the desire and hope to undergo a transplant. They only want salvation, they want to live a normal life," she said.
That is why Čabarkapa calls on citizens to support the "Signature for Life" campaign, launched by the Ministry of Health.
By signing a donor card, each of us can become a potential donor and, in the event of death, help save someone's life with a transplant.
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