Verein Niere WNB

Our association was founded in 1972 by kidney patients and their relatives, when dialysis treatments and kidney transplants were still in their pioneering stages. Our founder Friedrich Bussmann was a transplant himself three times and headed our club until his untimely death in 1981. With his almost decade-long fight for the inclusion of a “transplantation paragraph” in the hospital law, he laid the foundation for our current transplant law and thus for the contradiction solution in Austria. In his television contributions in 1974 and 1976, he was able to repeatedly represent the concerns of kidney patients in public and point out numerous grievances.

Friedrich Bussmann will also always be remembered as the founding initiator in 1981 and the first president of the European umbrella organization of all kidney patient associations Ceapir (Confoederatio Europaea Associationum Patientium Insufficientiae Renum). Our first club name entered in the association register was “Society of Kidney Transplanters Austria”, which was later expanded to the club name “Society of Kidney Transplanters and Dialysis Patients Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland” (GND-WNB). With advances in medicine, kidney replacement therapy has become possible for many patients. At the same time, our group grew and our tasks expanded. Personal meetings and joint activities, visits to the dialysis units and advice to patients and relatives have always been important to us.

In 2022, our association celebrated its 50th anniversary.