With highs and lows, 2017 is nearing its end. It is a good time for conclusions. On this occasion, IPN has gathered good thought from all over the globe, this time only good thoughts, from decision-makers and from those on the receiving end of these decisions. What good has come of 2017? This is the question we posed to the people who have accepted to join us in our pursuit of the good in our surroundings and in the events that affect us. Although many things do not follow our wishes, winners are the people and societies that learn to see challenges and lesser things as extra opportunities to get involved and make things better. For each of the topics we approach, we provide rankings that reflect the opinions of those who developed them. Read further for the improvements that 2017 has brought to the field of organ and tissue transplants.
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As ranked by the “Timofei Moşneaga” Republican Clinical Hospital:
1. Maintaining a steady number of transplants, both from live donors, as well as deceased, relative to records of previous years.
“In spite of various difficulties, ranging in nature from logistics to funds, we have managed to keep the number of transplants steady.”
2. Aquisition of HLA compatibility testing kits
“The provisioning of our immunology laboratory with the materials necessary for testing HLA histocompatibility has allowed for a more precise determination of compatibility between donors and receivers, thus reducing the risk of rejection and possible complications.”
3. Development of standard operational procedures in the field of transplants
“The development of these documents allows us to cover all phases and participants in a transplant process, contributing to speedier actions during each step of the transplant.”
4. New staff in the Renal Transplant ward
“Increasing the number of persons involved in the monitoring of potential receivers and transplantees has allowed for a more careful and holistic approach to their needs.”
5. Monthly committees for the supervision of persons on the renal transplant waiting list
“Our team has thus managed to list and update relevant transplant data on potential receivers, which — combined with out partnership with dialysis centers — has allowed for a reduction in patients who forfeit their chances to a transplant due to undected issues. Until now, 18 renal transplants have been made, 17 from donors deceased of brain death, and one from a live patient. Throughout 2017, the Republican Clinical Hospital “Timofei Moşneaga” has hosted 12 liver transplants, one from a live donors and the rest from brain dead donors. Meanwhile, this year, for the first time in our institution’s history, the Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Surgery Ward team has succesfully conducted pediatric oncologic liver surgery, having operated three children.”
As jointly ranked by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection and the Transplant Agency:
1. Approval of 2017-2021 National Transplant Program
“The program entails the oversight of long-term activities in the collection and transplantation of organs, tissues and cells; extensions to coordination services in transplants, by creating a Center for excellency in the coordination of human organ and tissue collection. The Program has undertaken a feasibility study, in order to commence cardiac and cardio-pulmonary transplants; a Center for continued professional training within the Transplant Agency, which will host training seminars and other activities aimed at continuous professional development, and will also serve as the venue for the annual transplant promotion campaign.”
2. Signign of a trilateral Cooperation Agreement between the Biomedicine Agency (Paris, France), the Transplant Agency of Moldova, and the French Embassy in Chisinau.
“This Agreement furthers the practice of collecting [organs] from brain dead donors, and has allowed for the development of a Human Tissue Bank. A program and curriculum for the Center for continued professional training within the Transplant Agency has been developed. Moldovan transplant professionals participated in internships and training sessions in France, and French experts in organ transplants and preservation of human tissue undertook work visits to Moldova.”
3. Growth in organ and tissue transplant activities in the Republic of Moldova
“Liver transplants have been perfected and the number of finalized procedures has increased relative to 2016. There have been more cornea transplants than in 2016. A mechanism for reimbursing authorized medical-sanitary institutions and the tissue Bank for cornea conservation and transplants. The Government has issued a Decision on the fees on the collection and transplant of human organs. For 2018, the European Council has designated Moldova to host the XXI European Committee on Organ Transplantation (CD-P-TO) Conference and the 19th edition of the European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation, under the theme of “A hope for life.”
