A new Law on Transplantation of Human Organs has been enacted in Serbia, which is the biggest success of the campaign on the importance of organ donation The Most Important Call in Life implemented by Hemofarm Foundation since 2016. The law introduces a presumed consent according to which citizens who are 18+ are potential organ donors unless they opt-out it during lifetime or their family decide otherwise. The law is very important for thousands of people who have been waiting for transplantation for years, as it will increase the number of donors and transplantations, and thus reduce the waiting lists. The adoption of this law also indicates that we have passed the maturity and humanity exam as a state and society, because we have managed to reach a national consensus on such an important social issue. In order for the law to give full effect, it is necessary to continue working on raising the public awareness on this topic for the purpose of reaching the level of countries such as Croatia and Spain in which donorship is widely accepted, and humanity is one of the greatest social values.

Three and a half years ago, Hemofarm Foundation joined the campaign of supporting the national organ donation and transplantation program, wishing to help the society and institutions. As a partner to the Serbian Ministry of Health, the Foundation has launched The Most Important Call in Life campaign aimed at raising the awareness of the society on the importance of organ donation as well as creating a national consensus for the adoption of a new law on organ transplantation.

There are about 1000 people waiting for organ transplantation in Serbia. Most of them from the waiting list do not live long enough to receive the most important call in life. The goal of the campaign launched by the Hemofarm Foundation in 2016 is to draw the public attention to all the problems that people, who need transplantation, are facing. Cover faces of The Most Important Call in Life campaign are precisely the patients who have been waiting for organ transplantation for many years and who boldly exposed their life stories to the public, thus giving the campaign unquestionable authenticity and value. During the campaign, there were numerous lectures attended by doctors, patients, and numerous public figures, all with the aim of putting the organ donation topic in the public focus and emphasizing the fact that it is 20 times more likely that you will need a donor in your life than that you will have an opportunity to become a donor, as well as the fact that one donor can save 8 lives.

The Most Important Call in Life campaign officially began on June 6th, 2016, when more than 10,000 people received a phone call with recorded messages from patients who participated in the campaign. On the same day, phones were ringing in all public telephone booths in Belgrade, and with the support of the Ministry of Health of Serbia and ‘Milan Jovanović Batut’ Institute, June 6th was proclaimed the National Donor Day.

Since 2016, the number of donors has doubled in Serbia. At the beginning of The Most Important Call in Life campaign in 2016, Serbia had two (2), and presently it has four (4) donors per million citizens, which is a great success of this campaign. However, Serbia needs at least 10 donors per million citizens so that the waiting lists for organ transplantation could disappear.

The Most Important Call in Life campaign has also had a great public support. More than 40 different institutions, organizations, festivals, and prominent individuals have supported the campaign and enabled the signing of donor cards to the general public. The campaign has also been promoted beyond the borders of Serbia, growing into a sports humanitarian adventure initiated by Hemofarm employees. Six of them, recreational cyclist, rode for 1400 km from Germany to Serbia. The trip began at the headquarters of STADA Group in Bad Vilbel and ended in Vršac, the headquarters of Hemofarm. The Most Important Call in Life documentary has been filmed, by the author Danica Vučenić, with patients, who have been waiting for organ transplantation for many years, as the main characters.

The Most Important Call in Life is the most-awarded campaign of Hemofarm Foundation. It has won the gold, silver and bronze award at the 23rd Golden Drum Festival, the most significant regional festival of creativity. The Most Important Call in Life has won the Golden Drum in the category of integrated campaigns, Silver Drum in the PR category, and a special Drum Adriatic Bronze award. The campaign has also won the VIRTUS award for contribution at the national level, award of the Serbian Association of Managers (SAM) for socially responsible campaign, Impact regional award for the best socially responsible campaign, KAKTUS award in the category of Individual Works - BTL at the Integrated Communications Festival - KAKTUS, Impact award of the DOCS festival in California for The Most Important Call in Life documentary, and PRiznanje 2018 award of the Serbian Public Relations Association (DSOJ) as the best communicated socially responsible campaign in 2017.