"Let's Live Life - Let's Give Life”: Donor Program Improvement as the Key to Transplantation Success in 21^st Century - A Croatian Experience

Abstract

Transplantation is a widely accepted and successful life-saving treatment for hundreds of thousands of patients. However, transplant medicine still faces a number of obstacles. One of the most significant is the large disparity between the number of donors and recipients and the growing need for re-transplantation. In the last two decades, the improvement and organization of the national transplantation program in Croatia have resulted in a steadily increasing donor rate and therefore the transplantation numbers. As the key points of the donor program's success, I would single out the appointment of hospital and national transplant coordinators, the financial reimbursement model for additional medical staff engaged with the donors, the adoption of new legislation, public awareness campaigns and international cooperation with Eurotransplant.