As of 1 December 2004, within the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, the Project "Control of Tuberculosis in Serbia through the Implementation of DOTS Strategy and Outreach Services", financed by grants of the Global Fund to Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has been implemented.

The Project proposal was prepared by the National TB Commission of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia with technical assistance of TB experts from the WHO Regional Office.

The first contract between the Global Fund, as the donor, and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, as the principal recipient of the grant, was signed on 1 October 2004. Value of the Contract which was realized from 1 December 2004 to 31 November 2006 was US$ 2,428,986.

Based on successful performance during the first, two-year project phase, the Global Fund authorized additional amount of US$ 1,658,993 for the second phase, which will last from 1 December 2006 to 30 November 2009.

Total amount for five years of project implementation is US$ 4,087,979.

The overall goal of the Project is to reduce the burden of TB in Serbia through full implementation of DOTS strategy so as to reduce TB incidence rate from the current 36,8/100,000 to 25/100,000 by the end of 2009.

Main objectives to be reached in order to achieve the goal:

  • Strengthening of the health care system for TB control,
  • DOTS implementation in 100% of the country by the end of the project,
  • Improvement of TB control in specific high-risk populations and prevention of emerging of drug resistant TB cases.

Strengthening of the health care system for TB control includes:

DOTS implementation in 100% of the country by the end of the project will be achieved by:

  • Establishment of a quality assurance system for microbiological laboratories and anti-TB dispensaries,
  • Strengthening the supervision, monitoring , data collection and data processing for TB control in the country,
  • Increasing the level of knowledge of TB patients and general population on TB.

Improvement of TB control in specific high-risk populations and prevention of emerging of drug resistant TB cases envisages:

  • Improvement of TB control for population groups with increased risk for TB,
  • Development special units/teams for diagnosis and treatment of drug resistant cases.

Regular follow-up of the project implementation is performed by the Council of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (Country Coordinating Mechanism). The Global Fund’s local agent in Serbia is UNOPS.