Just 4 donors for 1 million citizens

The lack of donor organs in our country has been dramatic, but the leadership of the Health ministry has merely announced the opening of new transplant centers. The question is reasonably clear "how will they operate without organs?" and at present is not answered by officials.

Data for 2010 is indicative: donors did not exceed 40 and transplants amounted to 160. If one excluded kidney transplants, which constitute the lion's share because they are mainly from relatives/ living donors, transplantation of other organs is in steep decline. There were 33 liver transplants, and only 5 heart and 3 lung ones.

A comparison with European countries is disappointing. In Greece, 4 donors correspond to one million people, when in Spain there are 34 and in Portugal 31. That is why the so-called Spanish model in which all people are automatically considered organ donors after death unless they explicitly state the opposite while alive, had prevailed in a bill drafted three years ago by then-minister Avramopoulos, which never became law.

The list of EOM includes 1000 kidney, 70 liver, 30 heart and 6 lung patients. The numbers indicate the total disproportion between supply and demand in the field of transplantation. A lack of proportion is also evident in the plans of the leadership of the ministry of Health and the needs of Greek society in terms of the major issue of transplant policy.

The institution of transplantation is implemented without strategy  

While transplants are in decline, and scientists are mounting a massive effort to secure donor organs, the Ministry of Health is focusing on opening new transplant centers, starting from Attica.

In the words of vice minister of Health Mihalis Timosidis, the operation of the Liver Center in Atticon Hospital has been announced, while officials are considering the reopening of the Heart Transplant Center in Evangelismos. In terms its operation, it should be noted that it ran for 12 years, but the evaluation of the results from the EOM in terms of survival of patients failed to keep it open: 50% died in the first year and 30% within the decade. These mortality rates are much lower than those of the corresponding international transplantation centers.

Of course, if one considers that last year there were only 5 heart and 3 lung transplants in Onasseio, one understands that the issue is not the establishment of another transplant center but the strengthening of the institution itself. However, from the actions of the ministry of Health not only such a drastic plan is not suggested, but their primary solution is the substitution of transplantation.

They reward the mechanical hearts instead of organ donation

The recent decision of the Central Council of Health (KESY), which provides for the creation of Centres of Heart Support Device Implantation in NHS hospitals, allowed cardiologists to place pumps of permanent mechanical assistance in patients with heart failure. However, the full implantation of these expensive devices is removed from the Heart Transplant Program of the country, as the necessary opinion of transplantation centers is eliminated. According to data from the EOM, 20 heart patients already have had cardiac surgery with placement of permanent mechanical pump assistance.

Experts in the field of transplantation believe there is a risk of uncontrolled and opportunist implantation of such devices with whatever implications this may have on the lives of patients or on burdening the pension funds as each device costs 200.000 euros. In fact, EOM has been receiving complaints that «young patients with heart failure were led to the implantation as a definitive treatment without being given even the possibility of being assessed for transplantation».