Bone marrow transplantation in Moldova remains only an idea

Each year about 40 cancer patients in Moldova need bone marrow transplantation. As we lack a transplantation center and a common bank for tissues and cells, such surgeries cannot be performed here. The patients are registered at the Cancer Institute, where their health is maintained through specialized treatments. Grigore Romanciuc, deputy head of the Transplantation Agency, told Info-Prim Neo that Moldova has a national transplantation program for 2012-2016, according to which bone marrow transplantations should become possible in Moldova in a couple of years. In 2016, it is planned to carry out 10 such surgeries. The costs will be covered by the National Health Insurance Company. According to the budget of the national transplantation program, the cost of one surgery will be 70,000 lei, which includes the expenses for the patients’ upkeep, for the medication and equipment necessary for transplantation. The members of the surgery team will prepare the list of people who have priority for transplantation, according to their age and health state. There will be no surgeries for payment outside the planned list. “This isn’t allowed in Moldova. We treat all our patients equally and don’t discriminate them by their financial means”, stated Grigore Romanciuc. The tissue donors will be relatives of the patients, if possible. Asked about the cost of bone marrow transplantation abroad, the doctor said he lacked such information as there wasn’t any collaboration with foreign medical institutions that performed such surgeries. There are about 900 patients in Moldova who needed transplantation of organs.