The first Human Tissue Bank was set up at the Clinical Traumas and Orthopedics Hospital. Owing to this bank, the Moldovan doctors will be able to perform transplantation of cornea, tendons, ligaments, skin, valves, nerves, femoral bone head and others. The tissues and cells will be taken from dead persons, with the consent of the relatives. The operations will be carried out based on health policies. The prices for medically uninsured persons haven’t been set yet, IPN reports.
The Bank’s head Viorel Nacu said the tissues and cells are processed, tested for infections and then stored in refrigerators at temperatures of minimum minus 86 degrees Celsius, or minus 160 degrees Celsius in liquid azoth. The refrigerated tissues can be kept for five years, while in liquid azoth for 15-16 years. The donors can be of any age, even 80 years. The tissues and cells are taken from dead persons within 24 hours of the death.
According to Viorel Nacu, the prices will be set together with the Health Ministry. For example, the processing of a cornea costs about €1,000. Until now, Moldova had a laboratory of bones, where bones and tendons were kept for up to a year.
The Human Tissue Bank is outfitted with modern storage equipment, including a refrigerator programmed at minus 196 degrees Celsius. The equipment was tested and put into operation a month ago.
Acting Health Minister Andrei Usatyu said that two transplantations of cornea have been performed so far. The Ministry is to finalize the legal framework for keeping and using stem cells for treating difficult diseases of the central nervous system.
Attending the inauguration, acting Prime Minister Vlad Filat said that until now the patients went abroad because they didn’t have access to such services at home. “We can already say that we achieved results in the area of transplantation. It is important that we go on, while the objectives will be achieved step by step,” he stated.
The value of the project is over 3 million lei. The money was provided by the National Health Insurance Company, the Health Ministry and the Clinical Traumas and Orthopedics Hospital.
