Leadership of Spain in Transplant Medicine – An Example for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dubravka Bošnjak, the Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, met with María Molina Álvarez Toledo, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to BiH.

The majority of the conversation focused on the improvement of transplant medicine, as Spain is a leader in this field, with a donor rate of 48.9 per million inhabitants.

Minister Bošnjak emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina aims to improve transplant medicine and develop an efficient organ donation system. Spain, which has been at the top of the global list for decades in terms of the number of organ donors, can serve as a good example of this process. The implementation of Spanish models, such as hospital-level transplant coordination, would be of great significance for the development of the donation and transplantation system in BiH.

Collaboration with relevant institutions in Spain could allow Bosnia and Herzegovina to transfer good practices, especially regarding the establishment of donor and transplant programme coordination.

Minister Bošnjak also emphasized the exchange of experiences within the EU4Health programme, which Bosnia and Herzegovina recently joined. BiH is interested in establishing cooperation with Spanish institutions to jointly apply for projects within this programme.

During the meeting, there was also discussion about education, and it was proposed to initiate an agreement that would define forms of cooperation and open opportunities for joint educational projects.

There was talk about the potential for connecting youth organizations and exchanging experiences in the field of youth.

Minister Bošnjak also advocated for the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation in Sports, covering information exchange, joint projects, staff training, and support for regional sports centres.