Georgian Health Minister meets representatives of Transplant Union of Georgia

Georgia: The Georgian Minister of Health met with the representatives of dialysis service providers and the Dialysis, Nephrology, and Kidney Transplant Union of Georgia on January 10, 2025. The parties talked about the growth of dialysis services, as well as industry issues and potential remedies.

In addition to making dialysis services geographically accessible, Mikheil Sarjveladze pointed out that maintaining the service’s ongoing development is crucial to safeguarding the interests of the patient. The Minister claims that the industry is composed of highly skilled experts, and the Ministry will in turn contribute to further development of the field.

During the meeting, the dialogue was discussed on funding dialysis services, upgrading equipment, creating a uniform treatment protocol, and income of medical staff and their continuing education.

The parties agreed that active work in this direction will continue. Working groups consisting of representatives of the sector and ministry will be established and in the near future, necessary changes will be made to improve the quality of medical services.

Participants of the meeting

The meeting was attended by various other Ministers of Georgia as well. They are mentioned below:

• Deputy Minister of Health Tea Giorgadze and Giorgi Pataridze,
• Head of the Department of Health Policy Irine Javakhadze,
• Director of the National Health Agency Koba Zurabishvili,
• Deputy Director Ekaterine Sharadze.

Main representatives of the Dialysis, Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation Union of Georgia: 

• Larisa Prikhodina
• Dr. Irma Tchokhonelidze

Other organizations related to dialysis, nephrology, and kidney transplantation

• European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA): A prestigious European medical association.
• European Renal Best Practice (ERBP): A group that develops guidelines for nephrology, dialysis, and transplantation.
• European Renal Association (ERA): An organization that conducts e-seminars and has national societies.
• Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (NDT): A peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles on nephrology, dialysis, and transplantation.