Slovenia a world leader in organ transplants
Ljubljana, 8 October - Slovenia remains one of the leading countries in the world in terms of organ donation and transplants, averaging 120 organ transplants per year, show data by the Institute for the Transplantation of Organs and Tissues.
Belgrade, Serbia
Operating room.
Photo: Tanjug/STA
File photo
By mid-September this year Slovenian doctors transplanted 31 kidneys, 25 hearts, 20 livers and 4 pancreases.
In per capita terms Slovenia topped the global rankings for heart transplants in 2015 for the fifth year in a row.
For liver transplants it exceeded the EU average in 2015 with the transplant of 64 kidney last year, an all-time high.
But despite the headway, the number of people waiting for an organ transplant continues to rise.
As of 3 October, 178 were waiting for a transplant, the majority of them, 96, in need of a new kidney, and 58 needing a new heart.
The long waiting lines are the result of a lack of staff and funding as well as problems in securing organs.
The number of donors dropped this year and the number of cases where the family of the deceased refuse to let doctors harvest the organs continues to rise, according to Danica Avsec, the head of Slovenia Transplant.
Efforts have therefore been stepped up to secure organs such as kidneys from living donors.
Miha Arnol of the centre for kidney transplants said the live donor programme had been revived this year.
The data were released ahead of the 8 October European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation.