Bošnjak in Mostar: The goal is a stable and sustainable transplantation system in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Civil Affairs, Dubravka Bošnjak, addressed participants today at the opening ceremony of the professional and scientific symposium “Days of Transplantation Medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina – From Donation to Transplantation: Developing the Transplantation System,” which is being held on September 25 and 26 at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Mostar.

The development of transplantation medicine and bringing Bosnia and Herzegovina closer to Eurotransplant are among the priorities of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Our goal is for organ donation and transplantation medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina not to depend on individual efforts, but to become part of a stable, functional, and sustainable system,” Minister Bošnjak emphasized.

A significant step forward was made at the beginning of 2024, when the Ministry of Civil Affairs, with the consent of the relevant health authorities, submitted a Letter of Intent regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to Eurotransplant. Following this, the possibility of cooperation through a Teaching and Training Agreement (TTA) was opened as a transitional model for professional cooperation and strengthening the capacities of domestic transplant centers.

The Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo and the University Clinical Hospital Mostar have expressed interest in cooperation through this model, giving the process a more concrete continuation at the level of healthcare institutions.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs will continue to coordinate activities and international cooperation, while further progress requires the relevant health authorities at the entity level, together with clinical centers and hospital managements, to intensify the implementation of the agreed professional and organizational measures.

Particular emphasis was placed on the first kidney transplant performed this year at the University Clinical Hospital Mostar, as an important indication of the existing professional expertise and capacity.

“Let us accelerate what we can accelerate and not delay what the conditions for action already exist for. Because illness does not wait for our administration,” Minister Bošnjak said.

The two-day symposium brings together experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad, and its program covers organ donation, the development of transplantation programs, immunogenetics, donor registries, solid-organ transplantation, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The symposium also provides an opportunity to mark ten years of the development of the Tissue Typing and Immunogenetics Department of the Transfusion Center at University Clinical Hospital Mostar.