Slovenians Inclined to Idea of Organ Donation
Slovenians are inclined to the principle of organ and tissue donation, while the number of registered donors in Slovenia is rather low and the the waiting lists are considerably shorter compared to developed European countries, said Danica Avsec Letonja, the director of the Institute for Organ and Tissue Transplantation.
The majority of Slovenians support organ donation in principle, but when they need to make a step and formalise their intention by signing a document, the percentage drops drastically, said Avsec Letonja.
The fact that there are only 100 people in Slovenia who are potential donors after their death says a lot, she added.
The number of bone marrow donors - which is done by a living person - is somewhat greater. While donors primarily respond to open appeals by patients or their relatives, they are also registered as donors in a special register.
Letonja said Slovenia was "statistically successful" in terms of the share of relatives who oppose the will of the deceased to donate his or her organs. Only 18% of relatives object, a relatively low percentage compared to other European countries, she explained.
Slovenia-transplant has 28 patients on its waiting list for a new heart, nine patients for a liver, and 115 patients waiting for a kidney.
In 2006, there were 48 kidney transplants in Slovenia, seven patients received a new heart, while eight received a new liver.
Moreover, 67 patients received autologous (their own) blood cells, 11 patients received related blood cells, while 7 patients received unrelated blood cells, said Avsec Letonja.
According to the European network Eurotransplant, the average waiting time in 2005 was between 24 and 59 months for a kidney, between 6 and 11 months for a heart, and about 5 months for a liver.
The question is how to increase people's readiness to donate organs and tissues after their death.
"We believe that the support of the general public, media and politicians is of great importance, and that we need knowledge, will and hard work in order to save lives of persons who can only be saved with a transplant", said Avsec Letonja.
Individuals can become donors by filing an application at one of the authorised institutions (listed on the Health Insurance Institute self-service terminals). The applications are then examined and verified.
Slovenija-transplant records the donor's data into the Health Insurance Institute's IT system during the next verification of the health insurance card. The data is secret and can be read only by authorised physicians with their "professional cards" after the donor has died.
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