Hospitals saw increases in the number of kidney, liver, heart and lung transplants, Ildikó Horváth said after a conference organised as part of the European Union’s EUDONORGAN project.

 Hungarian hospitals performed a total of 505 organ transplants in 2018, Horváth said. In 119 cases – 22.6% of all donations – the organ was donated from abroad, she said. There were 335 kidney transplants last year, a 12% increase over 2017.

Hospitals performed 80 liver transplants, up more than 8% from 2017.

Altogether there were 23 lung and 62 heart transplants, also more than in 2017.

Sándor Mihály, director of the Hungarian National Blood Transfusion Service’s transplant surgery division, said that far more people in Hungary would be willing to donate their organs after their death than the number of those who are aware of the legal regulations concerning organ donation.

Fully 73% of Hungarians would want to donate their organs, but only 23% are aware of the legal aspects, Mihály said.

Melania Istrate, coordinator of EUDONORGAN, said that the project aims promote and increase social awareness about organ donation and strengthen training for healthcare professionals and other relevant actors in the field.