Montenegro

The Institute of Blood Transfusion of Montenegro is a public healthcare institution under the authority of the Ministry of Health, which has unified the entire transfusion medicine activity across the territory of Montenegro.

It was established on 14 December 2011, and began operating independently on 1 July 2012. The Institute is organized at the national level through the integration of existing transfusion services/centers/units that previously operated within the Clinical Center, as well as general and specialized hospitals.

The new organizational structure, in accordance with the Decision of the Government of Montenegro and EU requirements, includes a reference Institute based in Podgorica and ten organizational units across the entire territory of Montenegro, located in Pljevlja, Bijelo Polje, Berane, Podgorica, Nikšić,
Cetinje, Kotor, Risan, Bar and Meljine. The primary activity of the Institute is to ensure sufficient quantities of safe blood for the needs of the population of Montenegro for routine medical treatment, to maintain adequate reserves for the management of emergency conditions and extraordinary situations, and to supply healthcare institutions that use blood in treatment, i.e. secondary- and tertiary-level healthcare institutions in Montenegro. This activity—covering the collection and testing of human blood as a medicinal product of human origin, its processing and preparation, storage, distribution and issuance, as well as its application for the purposes of allogeneic or autologous transfusion—is defined by the General Provisions of the Law on Securing Blood (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 1/2014 of 9 January 2014), Articles 1 and 2. Within this framework, a key priority is the continuous implementation of activities aimed at the development of voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation in Montenegro, in accordance with the principles of voluntariness, anonymity, and free donation. As an activity of general public interest, the Institute carries this out in cooperation with municipal branches of the Red Cross, local selfgovernment authorities, and all other public and private institutions, organizations, companies, and society as a whole, in accordance with the adopted annual blood collection plan of the Blood Transfusion Institute of Montenegro, with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency, i.e. securing sufficient quantities of blood from domestic resources in line with needs.

Another important activity of the Institute is the provision of specialized services in the field of transfusion medicine for the purposes of diagnosis, prevention, and therapy for hospitalized and outpatient patients, as well as for the citizens of Montenegro.

These services include:

• Selection and preparation of compatible blood for safe patient treatment;
• Diagnostics in cases of suspected sensitization;
• Specific diagnostics in cases of suspected autoimmune diseases;
• Diagnostics and monitoring of sensitization in pregnant women;
• Diagnostics for blood-borne infectious agents: HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and Syphilis;
• Specific diagnostics for transplantation purposes, as well as transfusion support for transplant recipients.

The task of the Institute’s reference facility is to ensure equal access to blood as a medicinal product for all citizens of Montenegro and, through the implementation of applicable quality system standards in transfusion medicine, to ensure products of uniform quality throughout the entire territory of Montenegro. This task requires uniform technology for the processing of blood units in all segments of transfusion activity, operation in accordance with adopted standard operating procedures, and the application of modern technologies, thereby guaranteeing product quality and safety. In addition to ensuring the uninterrupted functioning of healthcare institutions that use blood in treatment, the Institute’s mission is also, through its professional work, to enable the further development of healthcare services in Montenegro, including the application of highly specialized and advanced treatment methods such as hematology, oncology, cardiac surgery, vascular surgery, transplantation programs, as well as the introduction of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods applied in developed countries.

The organizational units of the Blood Transfusion Institute of Montenegro—Departments for Blood Collection, Clinical and Emergency Transfusion—totaling ten units across the country, are located within secondary- and tertiary-level healthcare institutions. One of their primary tasks is the collection of blood for the needs of the population of the respective municipality and region, for routine patient treatment and the management of emergency conditions. Another important activity of these organizational units is the provision of transfusion services in the fields of diagnostics, prevention, and therapy for patients of the healthcare institutions they serve, as well as outpatient patients and citizens from the municipality and region.

In accordance with professional standards and clearly defined requirements for precise separation of activities related to securing blood as a medicinal product and activities related to clinical and emergency transfusion, i.e. patient care, the organizational units are structured as centers that perform their activities through departments/sections.

The Institute comprises the following organizational units:
I. Center for Quality Management
II. Center for Blood Collection
III. Center for Blood Donor Testing
IV. Center for Component Preparation and Blood Distribution
V. Center for Laboratory Diagnostics and Clinical Transfusion
VI. Management and the Administrative–Technical and IT Support Service