Last year there were 228 kidney transplants in Croatia, which is the highest per million of population performed in the entire world, reported daily Novi list.

Special funding for transplant programs and Croatia's membership to Eurotransplant, the international foundation for patient-oriented allocation of donor organs, from 2007 has contributed to the large number of kidney transplants performed in 2011, it was said today at a press conference of the Croatian Society for Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation of the Croatian Medical Association and the Croatian Association of Kidney Transplant Patients.

According to the Ministry of Health, those on the waiting list for kidney transplants has reduced since 2007 by 38 per cent and by 14 per cent since 2010. Currently there are 170 patients awaiting transplants.

"I urge citizens to consider what they do for the health of their kidneys. This is an important organ as it purifies 200 liters of blood daily and besides for blood pressure, the kidneys are important for bone strength, "said Health Minister Rajko Ostojic. "Give-receive", will be the message of this year's World Kidney Day on 8 May, which is dedicated to kidney transplants, in which Croatia has in recent years become the world leader.