Nihad Uk signs donor card

(Patria) - Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton Nihad Uk has officially signed a donor card, becoming a potential organ donor after death.

With this act, he wants to make a strong contribution to promoting organ donation and encourage all citizens to consider this humane decision.

Uk stated that this is not a political, and especially not a populist, but a humanitarian act.

- When I learned that according to data from the Center for Transplant Medicine of the Federal Ministry of Health, there are almost 300 patients on the waiting list for kidney, liver, and heart in FBiH, and that the number of transplants from deceased donors is in the single digits, I realized that every individual decision is important.

Organ donation is an opportunity to extend someone's life, to bring hope back to a family. I call on all citizens to inform themselves and consider this noble opportunity - Uk stated.

According to the latest available data from the Center for Transplant Medicine, there are 287 patients on the waiting list for kidney and other organ transplants in FBiH.

Annually, only 15-20 kidney transplants from living donors are performed, while the number of transplants from deceased donors is only in the single digits.

In 2024, BiH had its first heart transplant, and it stopped there. These numbers place us among the countries with the lowest organ donation rates in Europe.

For comparison, in Spain, the European leader in this regard, the rate is over 40 donors per million inhabitants, while in Croatia it is around 35. The difference translates to hundreds of lives saved annually.

Academician emeritus, Prof. Halima Resić, president of the Donor Network in BiH, welcomed this decision.

- Public figures have the power to break taboos and normalize this topic. Every signature on a donor card is potentially eight lives saved, as one donor can donate a heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys, as pancreas and small intestine transplants are not yet performed here.

The real challenge is not the lack of willingness from citizens, but the lack of information and an organized system and work in hospitals. This symbolic gesture can become a catalyst for change - Resić said.

The stance of religious communities towards organ donation is often a decisive factor for many citizens. In this context, it is important to emphasize that the reis-ul-ulema of the Islamic Community in BiH, Husein ef. Kavazović, clearly stated that organ donation is in accordance with Islamic principles, under certain conditions, and he himself symbolically signed a donor card. This provides moral support and a clear message to all believers.

The Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Tomo Vukšić, also signed a donor card, and the Catholic Church has long expressed its view on the value of saving lives through this means, through the words of the late Pope John Paul II: "To bury what can benefit man is a sin".

Furthermore, the Holy Archpriestly Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, as early as 2004, adopted the position that organ transplantation is permissible if the donor voluntarily agreed to donate or if the family gave consent after death.

Becoming an organ donor is a simple act of conscious decision. Citizens who wish to declare themselves as donors can:
1. Sign a donor card (which can be obtained at donor awareness events or ordered by mail via the form on the website www.donorskamreza.com);
2. Inform their closest family members about their decision, as the final decision in each individual case is still made in agreement with the family;

The condition for organ donation after death is that brain death has occurred in the intensive care unit and that the family confirms the deceased's wish with their consent. Each of us can be a potential donor, but at the same time, a potential recipient of organs.

It is important to emphasize that the chances of one of us needing an organ are significantly higher than our ability to help someone else by donating an organ.

Prime Minister Uk supports all efforts to improve the transplantation system and raise awareness about the importance of organ donation as the ultimate act of humanity.