International standards and prices to be applied for organ transplant in Moldova

Organ transplant in Moldova will take place in compliance with the international standards and at prices similar to international ones, Minister of Health Ion Ababii told reporters after the Government approved the new Law on Transplant of Human Organs, Tissues and Cells. According to the minister, these medical services are very expensive in the West and they can not cost less in Moldova. He says only a very small number of this kind of operations will be covered by the health insurance. According to him, liver transplant in Western Europe can reach 120,000 euros. The previous version of the Organ Transplant Law was adopted in Moldova in 1999. Ion Ababii affirms that 5 years after its adoption, a total of 13 kidney transplant operations were made, 7 of which from living donors. Later the process was stopped. According to the minister, several factors determined this fact, including legislation gaps. The minister says the experts of the European Council warned of the gaps in the legislation, including organ transplants from patients who suffered brain death, prohibition of international organ exchange schemes and the fact that spouses and other relatives except for the closest ones are not accepted as living donors. Ion Ababii pointed out that, given the impossibility to operate this kind of surgery in the country, Moldovans who had the financial possibility have resorted to the help of European countries. However, according to him, this number is way below the rate of the real necessities. The Government is yet to define a mechanism for putting the new law into practice.