Improvement of Transplant Program in Serbia
06. 06. 2010
Belgrade, July 06, 2010. – Accompanied by the director of the Serbian Ministry of Health Biomedicine Department , Mrs. Dana Mihailović, the delegation of the World Health Organization (WHO) composed of doctor Dorit Nytzan Kaluski, the head of the WHO’s Office for Serbia, and doctor Peter Doyle, a WHO expert in transplant programs, paid a visit to the Military Medical Academy.
Discussions led by the representatives of the MMA’s Management Board and leaders of the MMA transplant team with the WHO representatives were focused on cooperation in terms of further improvement of tissue and organ transplant program in Serbia, and the experiences and results our institution had achieved in the domain of transplantation surgery.
‘ The Military Medical Academy is the institution boasting highly qualified and trained teams and all organizational and technical preconditions for carrying out liver, kidney and bone marrow transplant programs, the surgeries routinely performed in a daily clinical practice-, said Prof. Dr. Nikola Filipović, the MMA’s deputy head in his address to the guests. Our intention is to raise your awareness of the results we have achieved in this field and to highlight, at the same time, some of the challenges we are facing in our country in light of our transplant programs. Those challenges include the insufficient supply of organs, unsatisfactory way the people view organ donation, lack of national guidelines for precise definition of procedures for diagnosing brain death, organ explantation, preparation and performance of transplant procedures, postoperative care of transplant patients as well as continuous education of physicians and medical technicians. We presume that solutions to those problems might be found by an organized and team approach and implementation of the highest standards within the Republic of Serbia Health System, We are, therefore, willing to take an active part on behalf of the MMA and thus give full professional contribution based on our rich experience’, said Col. Filipović.
In continuation of the discussions, Assist. Prof. Dr. Elizabeta Ristanović, Col. Prof. Dr. Zoran Kovačević, Col. Prof. Dr. Nebojša Stanković and Col. Assist. Prof. Dr. Slobodan Marjanović spoke about the most significant results and capabilities of the Military Medical Academy as well as the achievements in the sphere of liver, kidney and bone marrow transplants. After the comprehensive talks, the guests were taken to a tour of Organ Transplantation Center and Sterile Block of the MMA’s Hematology Clinic.
So far, the Military Medical Academy has performed 10 liver transplants (9 cadaveric and one living-donor),318 kidney transplants (292 livng-donor and 26 cadaver). The MMA’s experts performed 36 kidney transplantations in the NIs Clinicak Center and one in Banja Luka Clinical Center. Plans for further implementation of Transplant Program at the Military Medical Academy refer to multi-organ liver, pancreas and small intestine transplant program, and our experts are determined to establish full cooperation with other healthcare facilities in Serbia and within the Eurotransplant Program framework.
The director of the Department of Biomedicine of the Serbian Ministry of Health, Dr. Dana Mihailović expressed his contentment with the MMA’s impressive results in the field of transplantation surgery and the capabilities of our institution as well. – ‘The Serbian Public Health Service has a big challenge ahead of it, and there is a path we should cover together and through teamwork as not to remain among the last in terms of the number of performed transplants’, said Dr. Mihailović.
Discussions led by the representatives of the MMA’s Management Board and leaders of the MMA transplant team with the WHO representatives were focused on cooperation in terms of further improvement of tissue and organ transplant program in Serbia, and the experiences and results our institution had achieved in the domain of transplantation surgery.
‘ The Military Medical Academy is the institution boasting highly qualified and trained teams and all organizational and technical preconditions for carrying out liver, kidney and bone marrow transplant programs, the surgeries routinely performed in a daily clinical practice-, said Prof. Dr. Nikola Filipović, the MMA’s deputy head in his address to the guests. Our intention is to raise your awareness of the results we have achieved in this field and to highlight, at the same time, some of the challenges we are facing in our country in light of our transplant programs. Those challenges include the insufficient supply of organs, unsatisfactory way the people view organ donation, lack of national guidelines for precise definition of procedures for diagnosing brain death, organ explantation, preparation and performance of transplant procedures, postoperative care of transplant patients as well as continuous education of physicians and medical technicians. We presume that solutions to those problems might be found by an organized and team approach and implementation of the highest standards within the Republic of Serbia Health System, We are, therefore, willing to take an active part on behalf of the MMA and thus give full professional contribution based on our rich experience’, said Col. Filipović.
In continuation of the discussions, Assist. Prof. Dr. Elizabeta Ristanović, Col. Prof. Dr. Zoran Kovačević, Col. Prof. Dr. Nebojša Stanković and Col. Assist. Prof. Dr. Slobodan Marjanović spoke about the most significant results and capabilities of the Military Medical Academy as well as the achievements in the sphere of liver, kidney and bone marrow transplants. After the comprehensive talks, the guests were taken to a tour of Organ Transplantation Center and Sterile Block of the MMA’s Hematology Clinic.
So far, the Military Medical Academy has performed 10 liver transplants (9 cadaveric and one living-donor),318 kidney transplants (292 livng-donor and 26 cadaver). The MMA’s experts performed 36 kidney transplantations in the NIs Clinicak Center and one in Banja Luka Clinical Center. Plans for further implementation of Transplant Program at the Military Medical Academy refer to multi-organ liver, pancreas and small intestine transplant program, and our experts are determined to establish full cooperation with other healthcare facilities in Serbia and within the Eurotransplant Program framework.
The director of the Department of Biomedicine of the Serbian Ministry of Health, Dr. Dana Mihailović expressed his contentment with the MMA’s impressive results in the field of transplantation surgery and the capabilities of our institution as well. – ‘The Serbian Public Health Service has a big challenge ahead of it, and there is a path we should cover together and through teamwork as not to remain among the last in terms of the number of performed transplants’, said Dr. Mihailović.
The WHO’s representatives noted with satisfaction that the Military Medical Academy was an institution reach in experience and expertise, and a reliable support to the Serbian Public Health Service in the transplantation area. They were willing to provide us with the support to improve the transplant program in our country.
