site.btaEuropean Day for Organ Donation Marked with Emblematic Buildings Illuminated in Green

More than 30 emblematic buildings across Bulgaria will be illuminated in green between 7:15 and 7:45 p.m. to mark Saturday's European Day for Organ, Tissue and Cell Donation, Executive Agency Medical Supervision reported on its website. The event is in solidarity with the initiative of the Council of the European Union and to draw public attention to donation.

Sofia's buildings that will take part in the initiative are the National Assembly, the National Stadium and the National Palace of Culture, as well as Lozenetz University Hospital and Sofiamed University Hospital.

The Agency said that a single brain-dead person could save up to eight lives by having their vital organs donated. Up to 100 patients could also see their lives improved by receiving tissue transplants from the donor.

In Bulgaria, 836 patients are waiting for an organ transplant, of whom 770 need a kidney, 22 require a heart, 19 need a liver, 10 need a lung transplant.

Caretaker Minister of Health Galya Kondeva-Mankova said on Friday that the process of monitoring the health status of people waiting for transplants should be updated. Meetings with donor coordinators are planned to look for solutions to organizational problems that have led to low donation and transplant rates.

The Council of Ministers adopted the 2024 - 2028 National Programme for Promotion of Organ Donation and Support for Transplants in Bulgaria in early July. Funding of BGN 1.8 million is envisaged each year for the period. The tasks set out in the programme are effective management and coordination of the programme on donation promotion and transplantation support, activities to identify potential donors, raising public awareness of the need for donation, ensuring round-the-clock communication between donation coordinators and Executive Agency Medical Supervision, increasing the capacity of the National Public Donor Bank for stem cells and bone marrow, among others.