14th Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Transplantation
Organ donation
Council of Europe Black Sea Area Project: International Cooperation for the Development of Activities Related to Donation and Transplantation of Organs in the Region

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2017.12.043Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

In 2011, the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & Healthcare of the Council of Europe launched a 3-year collaborative project to address the organ shortage and improve access to transplant health services in Council of Europe member states in the Black Sea area (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation) through the development of safe and ethical donation and transplantation programs.

Objective

Support the development of donation and transplantation programs through close interstate cooperation between national health organizations and relevant stakeholders.

Methodology

Several work packages (WP) were established: WP1, project coordination (European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & Healthcare); WP2, development and implementation of an effective legislative and financial framework (Czech Republic and France); WP3, establishment of National Transplant Authorities (Italy and Portugal); and WP4, clinical practices (DTI Foundation). Data collection, surveys, and expert visits allowed for the collection of first-hand information from each participant country at national, regional, and hospital levels.

Results

Data analysis showed the positive impact of the project represented by a tendency to increase the total donation rates (per million people) in the participant countries (2011 vs 2013): Azerbaijan, +7.3; Armenia, −0.7; Georgia, +3.3; Bulgaria, +0.9; Moldova, +2.5; Ukraine:, +0.8; Romania, +2.3; and Turkey, +2.7.

Conclusions

Increases in total donation rates are the result of a number of initiatives in the Black Sea area, including the stepwise implementation of legislative, organizational and institutional country-specific recommendations tailored by the CoE, efforts of the respective Ministries of Health in each country and synergism with other European projects in the region. These countries should invest further in implementing the recommendations that emerged from this project to improve their organ donation and transplantation programs and progress toward self-sufficiency.

Section snippets

Previous Organ Donation and Transplantation Initiatives in the Black Sea Area

Development of organ transplantation activities in the countries of the Black Sea area (BSA) began in the late 1970s; however, they began to decline in the early 1990s, and, later ceased in some countries. Therefore, the identification and sharing of experiences from countries with well-developed and established transplantation programs and local initiatives has become vital [10]. Such activities could provide models for the implementation of safe donation and transplantation programs in BSA

The BSA Project

In 2011, the CoE launched a 3-year collaborative project to counteract organ shortages and improve access to health services related to transplantation in the BSA member states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation) through the development of safe and ethical donation and transplantation programs. The BSA project was based on the philosophy that CoE member states with established and successful transplantation systems would

Objectives

The main objective of the project was to support the development of organ donation and transplantation programs through close interstate cooperation between national health organizations and relevant stakeholders.

The specific objectives of the project were to (a) structure and enhance the exchange of knowledge between the partners of the project, (b) ensure transfer of best available expertise and good practices in the field of transplantation between CoE member states, (c) review existing laws

Methods

The BSA project was organized as 4 work packages (WPs). They were focused on various aspects of the donation and transplantation processes based on the level of development of the existing transplantation activities in each BSA member state.

Results

Since the project was implemented in 2011, data analyses have shown a positive impact represented by a tendency for increased donation rates in almost all countries. The national focal point of each country was in charge of providing and validating the project results.

Discussion

BSA countries are geographically related, but results indicate that they have different needs and levels of development of donation and transplantation activities. Hence, no general strategy was implemented as part of this project. Collaborations between participant member states were proposed based on experience and existing relationships.

Acknowledgment

The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose. This paper was produced in the framework of the BSA project, led by the EDQM, Council of Europe. Data analyzed in this manuscript has been provided by the national authorities involved in the project. The content of this manuscript represents the views of each national focal point (NFP) of the participant countries and is their responsibility. The authors would like to thank Louise Birrell and Eleni Zachari (EDQM) for

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There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

The Black Sea Area (BSA) project was possible thanks to funding from the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM), a Directorate of the Council of Europe.

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