The Health Ministry has provided enough financial and technical means to increase the number of transplantations and provide better donor search and after care opportunities in 2006, Health Minister Radoslav Gaidaski said.

The increase was required as the transplantation activity in Bulgaria was on the rise, Dnevnik newspaper said.

All transplantations are by law financed by the state budget, the National Health Insurance Fund and the volunteer health insurance organisations. However, at present the surgeries receive financing only from the state.

The entire procedure costs the Health Ministry nearly 5 000 leva. The sum is just a small part of the actual surgery expenses, Gaidarski said.

Additional costs include payments for donor co-ordinators, paying the healthcare institutions, search of potential donors and legal death confirmation.

Expenses total from 50 000 to 60 000 leva for kidney, 120 000 leva for heart and 140 000 leva for liver transplantation. The Health Ministry proposed to cover expenses for after transplantation care, provided the patient entered a licensed hospital, Dnevnik said.

The transplantation procedures remain complicated. All applicants are registered in a list updated on a regular basis. The number of applicants has reached 519 people.