Malta transposed Directive 2010/45/EU of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on
standards of quality and safety of human organs intended
for transplantation (European Parliament and Council,
2010) on 12th October 2012 through Legal Notice 345
of 2012, entitled Organ Transplants (Quality and Safety)
Regulations, 2012, Subsidiary Legislation to the Human
Blood and Transplants Act (Cap483), enacted in 2006.
This long awaited legislation provides a firm legal
backing for transplantation services that are structured
such as to ensure health and safety to both donor
and recipient. The regulations apply to practices and
procedures along the entire pathway from donation to
transplantation of solid organs, and even beyond, to the
collection of post transplant medical data.
Malta has a good track record of safe working practices
in transplant services. These have been offered since the
early 1980’s, initially limited to corneal transplants, but
soon followed by the first kidney transplant in 1983.
Heart transplants are performed once a year, with the
first being in 1996. (Transplant Support Group, Malta,
2013) Patients requiring liver transplants are referred
to the UK while recently, in 2011, an agreement was
reached with Palermo, Sicily for a lung transplant service.
(ACCORD, 2012)peer-reviewe
