Slovakia severely lacking in organ donations

Slovakia ranks near the bottom when it comes to the number of organ donations in European Union countries. According to experts, it is due to not only a lack of organ donors, but also a lack of transplant coordinators and incentives, with such coordinators usually working in hospitals as full time doctors. Zuzana Žilinská, the president of the Slovak Transplant Organisation, says such doctors are not incentivised to take on the extra work associated with arranging donors. The Ministry of Health has already discussed this issue with health insurance companies, and it seeks to achieve incentives for donation organisers in connection with transplantation groups, paid for by health insurance companies. "But this is a complex issue, because payment systems are linked to the identification number of the insured person", responded head of communications for the Ministry, Zuzana Čižmáriková. Last year Slovak doctors saved the lives of 165 patients with organ transplantations, however this year already 443 people are waiting for organs. The number of transplants in Slovakia in the last ten years has declined. In Spain, there are 35 transplantations per million citizens and 25 per million in the Czech Republic. In Slovakia however there are fewer than 12 transplantations per million citizens.