Final Conference of twinning light project “Improving the quality of the microbiological diagnostics system for the control of infectious diseases in the Republic of Serbia” which was jointly implemented by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr. Milan Jovanovic Batut” and The Italian National Institute of Health(Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS was held on 13th February 2018 in Italian Institute for Culture in Belgrade.

This Twinning light project worth 249.000 EUR was financed by the EU and co-financed by the Republic of Serbia. The objectives of this project were to map capacity and identify and quantify gaps of the Serbian microbiology laboratory system in relation to EU standards for detection and/or confirmation of communicable diseases in line with EU case definition and to develop a Road map of activities necessary for system improvement. The project included the national reference laboratories and diagnostic laboratories from public and private sector.

Through key stakeholder meetings, a structured survey based on WHO and ECDC instruments, and two Workshops for health professionals working in the microbiology laboratories throughout the country, this twinning project highlighted strengths and weaknesses of the network of microbiology laboratories involved in the infectious disease surveillance. On the ground of recognized weaknesses prioritized by the health professionals in the country, the project team developed recommendations and the roadmap to improve capacities and diagnostic testing practices and sensitivity of epidemiological surveillance.

During the final conference the Project team presented the main project findings and recommendations for improvement of the system of control of infectious diseases in the Republic of Serbia in accordance with EU legal norms and standards. The most imprtant reccomendations include: improvement of coordination of microbiology laboratories in the country, Strengthening the network between microbiology, epidemiology and the information technology sectors, establishment of a minimum set of standards for biosafety to be applied across diagnostic laboratories in the country, enhancement of laboratory testing capacity by serological/molecular methods, and reinforcement of the NRL use of molecular methods for surveillance and outbreak investigation. Implementation of set of recommendations will contribute to development of sustainable institutional capacities to respond to the serious public health threats. The ceremony was attended by Dr Zlatibor Lončar, Minister of Health, H.E Mr. Sem Fabrizi, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, Prof dr Berislav Vekic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Mr Dušan Čarkic, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia, Dr Sergio Monti, Diplomatic Adviser of Italian Embassy, Dr Paolo Battinelli, Science Attaché of Italian Embassy, Dr Verica Jovanovic, acting Director of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Milan Jovanovic Batut”, representatives of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia and District Institutes of Public Health, representatives of The Italian National Institute of Health, representatives of medical faculties, and other relevant institutions working in the field of microbiology, epidemiologists and microbiologists.