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Millions of euros behind dialysis

About a year ago, two PASOK deputies who have both received kidney transplants submitted a proposal to Parliament. Dimitris Pipergias and Yiannis Diamantidis proposed broadening the law to allow organ donation by family members up to the fourth degree and non-relatives with close ties to the patient, subject to approval by a special committee. The proposals were popular, and the consent of the late Archbishop Christodoulos had been secured («We would be the first to donate an organ,» he told the deputies) but the bill was not accepted. At the time, Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos promised that within a month he would submit a draft bill incorporating many of the proposals. Eleven months down the line, nothing has been done. «It was to be expected,» Diamantidis told Kathimerini. «Millions of euros are at stake with dialysis. There is organized opposition to making the organ donation system more flexible, so that the use of filters, drugs and machines continues. There is no other explanation. The Greeks, who are so emotional, cannot be the laggards of the EU. The situation is being perpetuated because it serves someone’s interests.»

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