Until 2019, organ transplants from both relatives and non-native donors were prohibited by law in Ukraine. There was also no register of donors and the profession of a transplant coordinator.
The new law on transplantation regulates this area in Ukraine and allows Ukrainians to be operated on in their own country, and not abroad.
On September 22, the first heart transplant in Ukraine was performed on a 13-year-old boy in Lviv. This became known by the director of the Clinical emergency hospital in Lviv, Oleh Samchuk.
"The heart of a 13-year-old boy from Volyn village Zarudtsi was transplanted. He has been ill since July. Last month the child was in the intensive care unit of the Volyn regional medical association for maternity and childhood protection, the last two weeks — with us," said the clinical hospital director.
What does the law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regulating the Issues of Transplantation of Human Anatomical Materials" give:
- it became possible to consent to donation during life;
- cross donation;
- the appearance of a transplant coordinator;
- organization of the Unified State Information System for Transplantation.
"This is another huge step on the path to transplant independence. Our citizens now do not have to go for such treatment abroad, it is already available in Ukraine. Now we need to make sure that there are hundreds of these operations a year, and every Ukrainian who needs a donor body, received it," summed up Samchuk.
