Organs for life: prospects for organ transplantation in Ukraine
"They could not save the person dear to them, but the lives she was able to save deprived her of the death of nonsense." Joshua Mezrich
From 2021, transplantation in Ukraine will become more affordable. From now on, Ukrainians in need of organ transplants can receive the full range of this complex set of care "at home" and not abroad. And absolutely free - all costs are borne by the state. Without exaggeration, this is a revolutionary achievement of the Ukrainian health care system, and we are all witnesses to the creation of history!
What has been done in a year?
As part of a pilot project on the development of organ transplantation, during 2020 the Ministry of Health has doubled the number of medical institutions that can perform transplants in Ukraine. During this period, 38 health care institutions and research institutes joined. This made it possible to perform 8 heart transplants, 19 liver transplants, 91 kidney transplants, and 204 bone marrow transplants last year (for comparison, 78 transplants were performed in 2019: 71 kidney transplants, 6 liver transplants, 1 heart transplant). In total, in 2020, 118 transplants of vital organs were performed in Ukraine!
At the end of December 2020, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding and cooperation with the Ukrainian Register of Bone Marrow Donors and the NGO "All-Ukrainian Donation Platform" iDonor ". The goal is to popularize donation and fill the register of potential bone marrow donors in Ukraine. At the same time, the Unified State Information System for Organ and Tissue Transplantation (EDIST), which unites the donor and the recipient, has started operating in the verification mode.
Also, experts from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine are negotiating with leading Israeli clinics to organize internships for Ukrainian doctors specializing in bone marrow transplants. Cooperation in the field of internships and standards development has been successfully launched with Spain, which is the world leader in the number of transplants per 1 million population. With the assistance of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the German Embassy, a German-Ukrainian webinar on the development of transplantation in Ukraine has been agreed, where leading German specialists in the field of transplantation will hold a series of lectures in English.
Before going on an internship abroad, all interested surgeons who have the right to learn a new specialty of transplantologist can undergo a 4-6-month training on the basis of Ukrainian centers: Kyiv National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology named after OO Shalimov National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Zaporizhia State Medical University or Danylo Halytsky National Medical University of Lviv, where the recently established Department of Transplantology has been operating since February.
Over the year, this field of professional orientation has become very popular, which means that transplantology in Ukraine has a very good chance of prospects and development. Actually, starting a new page at the end of 2019 in the small town of Kovel, now, in 2021, we already have domestic luminaries of transplantation, incredible enthusiastic doctors: Oleg Samchuk, Boris Todurov, Roman Domashich, Maxim Ovechko, Gnat Gerich, Gavriil Kovut Golika and others. Thanks to them, now transplant operations in Ukraine are not a dream, but a reality.
The whole history of transplantology is the name of incredible enthusiastic
physicians. Weekdays of a transplant doctor ":
"Transplantology is a future that has already come. For hundreds of years, scientists, science fiction writers, and just dreamers have imagined that it would one day be possible to transplant organs and tissues from one person to another. Sometimes such ideas were associated with obtaining a superman with superpowers, but more often it was about healing, saving lives. It was unimaginable that in the second half of the XX century transplantology will begin to develop rapidly, and the boldest dreams of science fiction will become a daily reality ... All these achievements were due to a relatively small number of truly incredible people : , Joseph Edward Murray, Thomas E. Starzle and Christian Barnard.
Transplantology is an incredible gift for donors, recipients and those who are lucky enough to dispose of organs, "Mezrich wrote in his book.
Plans and prospects
Today, our country has the most modern laboratories, which conduct the necessary tests for histocompatibility. Modern operating and qualified high-quality specialists, and of course regular transplant operations.
In favor of the development of transplantology contributed to changes in legislation that will allow in 2021 to perform at least 250 transplants of organs and tissues (ie, the figure will increase at least twice), and to conduct 480 bone marrow transplants.
During a briefing in early January, the head of the Ministry of Health Maxim Stepanov officially announced a significant increase in funding for this field of medicine:
“In 2021, we have significantly increased budget expenditures for the implementation of a pilot transplant project to UAH 502 million. For comparison: in 2019 this amount was 112 million hryvnias. We are currently developing a mechanism for transplants in Ukraine, conducting detailed cost calculations so that in the near future transplantation becomes a completely normal type of medical care that Ukrainians can receive in their country. The Ministry of Health will cover all costs for each transplant. Also, there is a possibility of improving the material and technical equipment of health care facilities, " - said Stepanov.
According to the Ministry of Health, the post-transplant support of patients will also change. Currently, there are 1,790 citizens with a donor organ living in Ukraine who need support for the post-transplant phase. To date, this support is provided by only 4 medical institutions, out of the 38 institutions participating in the pilot transplant project. In 2021, the Ministry of Health plans for the first time to provide post-transplant support at public expense. UAH 56 million has been set aside in the state budget for these purposes.
Also, according to Maxim Stepanov, this year the Ministry of Health of Ukraine will provide an opportunity to perform lung transplant operations - one of the most difficult operations, transplantation of upper and lower extremities (by the way, in Leon, France recently performed the world’s first arm and shoulder transplant , the operation lasted 15 hours and was successful), which is especially important for Ukrainian servicemen. In addition, a mechanism will be developed to involve in the transportation of anatomical materials and recipients of all modes of transport, including civil aviation and aviation transport of the State Emergency Service (GES).
A separate layer of work is the promotion of the culture of donation in society
In early 2021, Iryna Zaslavets, founder of the iDonor All-Ukrainian Donation Platform and part-time medical columnist for Windows News, posted a video on her Facebook page showing all the people whose lives were saved by Ukrainian doctors through transplants. It was this video that marked the beginning of the flash mob - # TransplantationButy, which aims to promote organ transplantation in Ukraine.
"Why? Not only to thank relatives and doctors. Although it is also important! They have prepared this video so that everyone who still doubts whether it is worth fighting for themselves, see them and make the right decision. I still have no doubt that it is right to donate organs in the event of death, and those who do not believe in the success of transplant operations have changed their minds and instead of interfering, they have supported those who develop transplants. I am proud of the doctors! I am proud of the families whose relatives became donors. And I really want to see as many people as possible who live thanks to such operations, "Iryna Zaslavets wrote.
Without conclusions and results
No one will say better about transplantation than those who underwent it. Therefore, instead of the results and conclusions, I want to share the revelation of the Spanish 27-year-old nurse, 15 years after her heart transplant:
"I do not want to survive anymore, I just want to live. A long way, a lot of work on myself made me realize that I’m not just a recipient of the heart, I’m not just carrying someone else’s heart. I carry history as a living heritage. My body is strength, my mind is courage, and my heart is love. The love that connects me to the donor I often think of, the little angel who is always there, who allows me to go so far! This gift from him and his family is a wonderful gift that makes me who I am today. But most of all, it made me realize the importance of taking care of ourselves and realizing the power that is within each of us. Organ donation saves lives - talk about it! ”
Author Kateryna Stebelska
Other news and notes
From 2021, transplantation in Ukraine will become more affordable. From now on, Ukrainians in need of organ transplants can receive the full range of this complex set of care "at home" and not abroad. And absolutely free - all costs are borne by the state. Without exaggeration, this is a revolutionary achievement of the Ukrainian health care system, and we are all witnesses to the creation of history!
What has been done in a year?
As part of a pilot project on the development of organ transplantation, during 2020 the Ministry of Health has doubled the number of medical institutions that can perform transplants in Ukraine. During this period, 38 health care institutions and research institutes joined. This made it possible to perform 8 heart transplants, 19 liver transplants, 91 kidney transplants, and 204 bone marrow transplants last year (for comparison, 78 transplants were performed in 2019: 71 kidney transplants, 6 liver transplants, 1 heart transplant). In total, in 2020, 118 transplants of vital organs were performed in Ukraine!
At the end of December 2020, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding and cooperation with the Ukrainian Register of Bone Marrow Donors and the NGO "All-Ukrainian Donation Platform" iDonor ". The goal is to popularize donation and fill the register of potential bone marrow donors in Ukraine. At the same time, the Unified State Information System for Organ and Tissue Transplantation (EDIST), which unites the donor and the recipient, has started operating in the verification mode.
Also, experts from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine are negotiating with leading Israeli clinics to organize internships for Ukrainian doctors specializing in bone marrow transplants. Cooperation in the field of internships and standards development has been successfully launched with Spain, which is the world leader in the number of transplants per 1 million population. With the assistance of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the German Embassy, a German-Ukrainian webinar on the development of transplantation in Ukraine has been agreed, where leading German specialists in the field of transplantation will hold a series of lectures in English.
Before going on an internship abroad, all interested surgeons who have the right to learn a new specialty of transplantologist can undergo a 4-6-month training on the basis of Ukrainian centers: Kyiv National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology named after OO Shalimov National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Zaporizhia State Medical University or Danylo Halytsky National Medical University of Lviv, where the recently established Department of Transplantology has been operating since February.
Over the year, this field of professional orientation has become very popular, which means that transplantology in Ukraine has a very good chance of prospects and development. Actually, starting a new page at the end of 2019 in the small town of Kovel, now, in 2021, we already have domestic luminaries of transplantation, incredible enthusiastic doctors: Oleg Samchuk, Boris Todurov, Roman Domashich, Maxim Ovechko, Gnat Gerich, Gavriil Kovut Golika and others. Thanks to them, now transplant operations in Ukraine are not a dream, but a reality.
The whole history of transplantology is the name of incredible enthusiastic
physicians. Weekdays of a transplant doctor ":
"Transplantology is a future that has already come. For hundreds of years, scientists, science fiction writers, and just dreamers have imagined that it would one day be possible to transplant organs and tissues from one person to another. Sometimes such ideas were associated with obtaining a superman with superpowers, but more often it was about healing, saving lives. It was unimaginable that in the second half of the XX century transplantology will begin to develop rapidly, and the boldest dreams of science fiction will become a daily reality ... All these achievements were due to a relatively small number of truly incredible people : , Joseph Edward Murray, Thomas E. Starzle and Christian Barnard.
Transplantology is an incredible gift for donors, recipients and those who are lucky enough to dispose of organs, "Mezrich wrote in his book.
Plans and prospects Today, our country has the most modern laboratories, which conduct the necessary tests for histocompatibility. Modern operating and qualified high-quality specialists, and of course regular transplant operations.
In favor of the development of transplantology contributed to changes in legislation that will allow in 2021 to perform at least 250 transplants of organs and tissues (ie, the figure will increase at least twice), and to conduct 480 bone marrow transplants.
During a briefing in early January, the head of the Ministry of Health Maxim Stepanov officially announced a significant increase in funding for this field of medicine:
“In 2021, we have significantly increased budget expenditures for the implementation of a pilot transplant project to UAH 502 million. For comparison: in 2019 this amount was 112 million hryvnias. We are currently developing a mechanism for transplants in Ukraine, conducting detailed cost calculations so that in the near future transplantation becomes a completely normal type of medical care that Ukrainians can receive in their country. The Ministry of Health will cover all costs for each transplant. Also, there is a possibility of improving the material and technical equipment of health care facilities, " - said Stepanov.
According to the Ministry of Health, the post-transplant support of patients will also change. Currently, there are 1,790 citizens with a donor organ living in Ukraine who need support for the post-transplant phase. To date, this support is provided by only 4 medical institutions, out of the 38 institutions participating in the pilot transplant project. In 2021, the Ministry of Health plans for the first time to provide post-transplant support at public expense. UAH 56 million has been set aside in the state budget for these purposes.
Also, according to Maxim Stepanov, this year the Ministry of Health of Ukraine will provide an opportunity to perform lung transplant operations - one of the most difficult operations, transplantation of upper and lower extremities (by the way, in Leon, France recently performed the world’s first arm and shoulder transplant , the operation lasted 15 hours and was successful), which is especially important for Ukrainian servicemen. In addition, a mechanism will be developed to involve in the transportation of anatomical materials and recipients of all modes of transport, including civil aviation and aviation transport of the State Emergency Service (GES).
A separate layer of work is the promotion of the culture of donation in society
In early 2021, Iryna Zaslavets, founder of the iDonor All-Ukrainian Donation Platform and part-time medical columnist for Windows News, posted a video on her Facebook page showing all the people whose lives were saved by Ukrainian doctors through transplants. It was this video that marked the beginning of the flash mob - # TransplantationButy, which aims to promote organ transplantation in Ukraine.
"Why? Not only to thank relatives and doctors. Although it is also important! They have prepared this video so that everyone who still doubts whether it is worth fighting for themselves, see them and make the right decision. I still have no doubt that it is right to donate organs in the event of death, and those who do not believe in the success of transplant operations have changed their minds and instead of interfering, they have supported those who develop transplants. I am proud of the doctors! I am proud of the families whose relatives became donors. And I really want to see as many people as possible who live thanks to such operations, "Iryna Zaslavets wrote.
Without conclusions and results
No one will say better about transplantation than those who underwent it. Therefore, instead of the results and conclusions, I want to share the revelation of the Spanish 27-year-old nurse, 15 years after her heart transplant:
"I do not want to survive anymore, I just want to live. A long way, a lot of work on myself made me realize that I’m not just a recipient of the heart, I’m not just carrying someone else’s heart. I carry history as a living heritage. My body is strength, my mind is courage, and my heart is love. The love that connects me to the donor I often think of, the little angel who is always there, who allows me to go so far! This gift from him and his family is a wonderful gift that makes me who I am today. But most of all, it made me realize the importance of taking care of ourselves and realizing the power that is within each of us. Organ donation saves lives - talk about it! ”
Author Kateryna Stebelska
Other news and notes