Transplants bridge built with Cyprus

In a move which would help Greece and Cyprus catch up with Europe in the field of transplants, the two countries signed two cooperation agreements on Thursday for the exchange of kidneys and lungs.

Only kidney transplants are performed in Cyprus, while in Greece, 8.45 deceased donors were recorded last year per million population. The average in Europe is 18.05 donors per million.

The agreements were announced by Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiads and his Cypriot counterpart Michalis Damianou.

"I want to send a message to all our Cypriot compatriots that Greece is here to help in any difficult moment and anyone in need," Georgiadis said.

One of the agreements concerns cross-over kidney-transplantation which means organ exchanges between living donor and recipient "pairs" when there is no compatibility. 

More specifically, in the cases when a...