Boosting transplantation: a priority to lower the economic burden of renal care

EKHA welcomes the recent announcement of the health priorities of the upcoming Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU (starting January 2019) in so far as they reflect an intention from the future Presidency to boost organ donation in Europe: a document* freshly released from the Presidency outlines under the overall aim of “guaranteeing access to health care for all EU citizens” the willingness to focus on “obtaining consensus on the exchange of organs and tissues between countries”.

The low number of organ and tissue donors in the world and in the EU “requires improved cooperation for organ exchanges for transplants,” taking into account compatibility and the urgency of cases, the document says. This echoes EKHA’s positioning and activities in its recently launched “Gift of Life” campaign.

Additional items on the Romanian EU Council Presidency’s priority list include:

• Ensuring patients’ access to medicines
• Reaching the necessary vaccination coverage targets
• Integrated cancer control
• Identification of the most effective interventions to prevent noncommunicable diseases
• Agreement on a system to evaluate the performance of health systems
• Quality management in health care
• Ensuring patient safety.

For more information on the Romanian presidency: http://www.romania2019.eu/en/

*Access the document obtained by Politico www.politico.eu