The Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center is involved in providing medical care to participants of military operations by transplantation abroad

Today, on October 20, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted amendments to Resolution No. 720, which regulates the procedure for transportation of human anatomical materials within Ukraine, as well as their import and export outside the customs territory of the country.

The adopted amendments will help solve the problems of combatants who lost both arms, or both legs at the same time while defending themselves from Russian aggression. Transplantation allows them to return to a full life. Currently, there is no technology for conducting such operations in Ukraine, but there are countries that have experience in conducting them and are ready to perform these operations for Ukrainian veterans with simultaneous training of Ukrainian specialists.

The adopted resolution makes it possible to perform transplants of limbs to Ukrainian participants of military operations from Ukrainian donors in foreign health care institutions.

According to the amendments, the Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center received the right to export human anatomical materials (upper and lower limbs) outside the customs territory of Ukraine for transplantation in foreign health care institutions to participants of military operations and persons with disabilities due to the war, who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and directly participated

• in the anti-terrorist operation;
• in measures to ensure national security and defense;
• in repelling and deterring the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts,

if it is impossible to perform such a transplant in Ukraine.

The fact of establishing the possibility/impossibility of limb transplantation in Ukraine is established by the Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center by sending requests to domestic transplant centers.

Limb transplants are performed in foreign healthcare institutions within the framework of cooperation agreements between the Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center and/or the transplant center and a foreign medical institution that can perform such operation.

For reference: a total of 202 transplants were performed in Ukraine during the I-III quarter of 2021. Most of the operations are for kidney transplantation - 151.