Greece-Cyprus pact aims to close transplant gap with Europe

In a move which would help Greece and Cyprus catch up with Europe in the field of transplants, the two countries signed two cooperation agreements on Thursday for the exchange of kidneys and lungs.

Only kidney transplants are performed in Cyprus, while in Greece, 8.45 deceased donors were recorded last year per million population. The average in Europe is 18.05 donors per million.

The agreements were announced by Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiads and his Cypriot counterpart Michalis Damianou.

“I want to send a message to all our Cypriot compatriots that Greece is here to help in any difficult moment and anyone in need,” Georgiadis said.

One of the agreements concerns cross-over kidney-transplantation which means organ exchanges between living donor and recipient “pairs” when there is no compatibility.

More specifically, in the cases when a living donor (either a relative of the recipient or emotionally related donor) and the recipient are not compatible for immunological reasons, the partnership allows the possibility of exchanging kidneys with a corresponding pair in which incompatibility is also observed.

The first cross-transplantation of a kidney in Greece took place in 2017 at Athens’ Laiko Hospital. With the cooperation agreement signed on Thursday, the exchange will be able to take place between donors of the two countries, thus increasing the chances of a successful transplant. Cyprus has an agreement in this field with Israel as well, while this is the first time that Greece has launched such a partnership.

The two ministers also formalized cooperation between the two countries regarding lung transplants. In particular, Cypriot patients are included on the Hellenic Transplant Organization’s (EOM) waiting list for a compatible lung transplant, while at the same time Greece can receive transplants from Cyprus, when they cannot be used there. This collaboration already exists informally and so far at least five lung transplants have already been performed for patients from Cyprus in Greece.