INFORMATION PORTAL OF THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE OF THE KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE Region IN TORUŃ

Four thousand young people from across the region took part in the Young People’s Forum ‘For new is hope’ held today in Bydgoszcz to educate about transplantation and promote transplantation and organ donation. The regional government was a partner in organising the event, hosted by Marshal Piotr Całbecki and Vice-Marshal Zbigniew Ostrowski.

The Bydgoszcz meeting of transplant experts and transplant coordinators, as well as transplant recipients with secondary school students entering adulthood, was the fifth in our country, following earlier meetings in Gdańsk, Szczecin, Katowice and Warsaw. It was initiated by the head of the Department of Transplantology and General Surgery at the Nicolaus Copernicus University Medical College, Professor Zbigniew Włodarczyk. – If there is anything that can make death meaningful, it is only that by dying we can still give life to someone else, that our heart, liver, lung or kidney will live on in another person,’ this was his statement in the announcement of the Youth Forum in the UMK news service.

– Keep your eyes, ears and hearts open, and tissues at hand. You will see real life, real people and real stories here,’ he said today in welcoming participants.

– There is great power here and there will be fruit from this meeting. If you can help another human being, you should do it. Thank you for being here. You are wonderful! – said Marshal Piotr Całbecki from the stage in Łuczniczka hall, where the meeting was held.

The first of the invited experts to take the floor was Professor Maciej Kosieradzki, President of the Polish Transplantation Society and Head of the General and Transplantation Surgery Clinic at the Medical University of Warsaw. He talked, among other things, about what the transplant declaration of intent is and how it works, a document that each of us can simply download from the internet, sign and carry in our wallet. He stressed that the aim of the forum was not to convince people to make such a statement, but to provoke reflection that might result in a considered decision, one way or another.

Among those speaking were transplant recipients Mariusz Mroziewicz, who received a new heart after a congenital heart conduction system disorder and cardiomyopathy became apparent many years ago. – ‘If it wasn’t for the transplant, I wouldn’t be here,’ he said with a shrug. Today, among other things, he is a volunteer at the hospital and is active in spreading awareness of transplantation as an effective method of treating some serious diseases. A method that gives new life.

A letter to the participants of the Youth Forum was written by the Minister of Health, Izabela Leszczyna.

According to the Ministry of Health, 2 258 successful transplants were performed in our country last year, 2 152 from deceased donors and the remainder from family donors. Kidney transplants are the most common (1,132 transplants last year, a 16 per cent increase on 2023). The number of liver (615 last year, 523 the previous year), heart (201 in 2024 and 179 the previous year) and lung (147 successful operations in 2024, a 50 per cent increase on 2023) transplants is increasing.

Press Office of the Marshal’s Office

8 April 2025.