Estimating the clinical needs for tissues and cells in the Republic of Moldova

Transplantology Department, Transplant Agency, Laboratory of Tissue Engineering and Cells Cultures Nicolae Testemitsanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Chisinau, the Republic of MoldovaBackground: Safe and sustainable supply of tissues and cells for human application is an essential pillar in modern medical assistance and a priority for the health authorities both at national and international level. Material and methods: The study protocol for the needs assessment in tissue and cell grafts for the healthcare system was approved by the Ethic Committee. The survey of 161 surgeons was carried out in 24 institutions, through specially developed questionnaires. In order to validate some data obtained through questionnaires, the analysis of already existing national data and sources was performed. Results: Most surgeons (93.4%) declare that the institution they work at has been provided with a sufficient number of grafts for all patients needing transplantation. Despite this, the estimation of surgeons’ opinion regarding the need for grafts showed that 59.4% of respondents consider that they have enough grafts, 21.7% of respondents deal with exceptional cases of lack of grafts, 13.2% respondents consider that there are sufficient grafts for urgent patients and, sometimes, for non-urgent patients. Conclusions: The study revealed that increasing the number of tissue transplantations will contribute to improve the patients’ life quality and increasing the number of transplanted patients over the next 5 years is a priority measure in the management of the institutions included in the surve