ZAGREB, 26 May (Hina) – Croatia performs around 300 organ transplants annually and has for years ranked among the leading members of Eurotransplant in the relative number of donors after brain death, officials said on Tuesday at an event marking the National Day of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation.

One donor can save up to eight lives and help dozens more through tissue donation, Health Minister Irena Hrstić and national transplant coordinator Marina Premužić said at the Health Ministry, urging citizens to sign donor cards and support the transplant programme.

“Croatia has for many years been recognised as a country with exceptionally strong transplant results, and it is very important to stress that every transplant begins with organ donation,” Hrstić said.

She said Croatia had ranked among the more successful countries in organ transplantation and donation even before joining Eurotransplant, and that membership had further strengthened its position among Europe’s leading nations in the field.

The Health Ministry recently adopted new rules on organ donation, expanding the scope for potential donations and further aligning the system with European practice.

Hrstić said a donor card represents a person’s consent during their lifetime to donate organs after death, although family members are always consulted.

Croatia successfully carries out kidney, liver, heart and lung transplants.  Premužić said the country had recorded around 30 donors per million inhabitants in recent years.

She also highlighted the importance of tissue donation, including corneas, heart valves and blood vessels, which may not directly save lives but can significantly improve them.

“A person who receives a cornea can see again and quite literally gets a new lease of life,” she said, adding that the Croatian Registry of Voluntary Haematopoietic Stem Cell Donors has saved 215 lives since its establishment.