Montenegro

Establishing and Pursuing a High Quality of Tuberculosis Control Programme in Montenegro: 10 rooms reconstructed and equipped in the Hospital in Brezovik

At a press conference organized to present the reconstructed rooms for patients at the Special Hospital for Pulmonary Disease in Brezovik, Prim. Dr. Radovan Mijanović, Director of the Special Hospital mentioned that the project realization started half a year before and expressed hope for a successful continuation. «So far, the Special Hospital has been provided with the new and modern X-ray machine, new X-ray diagnostics space and three vehicles for the purpose of establishing directly observed treatment for patients with tuberculosis. Also, a permanent education was provided for health care proffessionals in the field of tuberculosis, and a lab was equipped for the purpose of improving diagnostics and establishing a National Reference Laboratory for the Special Hospital,» Prim. Dr. Radovan Mijanović emphasized.

Dr. Krsto Nikolić, Adviser to the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Welfare in the Government of Montenegro said that the number of people with tuberculosis has a growing trend in the world. “The number of people suffering from tuberculosis is constantly rising, and between two and three million people in the world die every year from this disease and its complications. Thus, the World Health Organization has declared tuberculosis a global health problem and devised the DOTS, a strategy of directly observed treatment through reduced regime, as a frame for combating tuberculosis all over the world. The National Commission on Tuberculosis has developed a five years Establishing and Pursuing a High Quality of Tuberculosis Control Programme in Montenegro. With this Programme we applied to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and they approved it. They allocated USD 1.600.000,00 for the realization of activities under the UNDP’s supervision.” Adviser to the Minister Dr. Nikolić also underlined that the Special Hospital, as the only of its kind in Montenegro, has to have a  a full time and well trained microbiologist. “The solving of this problem is underway, with participation of the Hospital management and Ministry of Health, whilst the assistance in the educational segment is expected from the UNDP,” Dr. Nikolić concluded.

Mr. Garret Tankosić Kelly, UNDP Resident Representative a.i./UN Interagency Focal Point in Montenegro emphasized that the prevalence rate of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Montenegro is low. “This programme’s objective is to keep it that way, and to help build the capacities of Special Hospital for Lung Diseases Brezovik for the European standards. To achieve this, it is necessary to establish a modern system of  rapid diagnostic (testing and screening) and, most importantly, a profesional and effective treatment of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients. With the help of this programme, 10 hospital rooms for tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients were reconstructed and equipped, allowing more professional treatment. Next step will be medical isolation of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients thus preventing further spread of and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among other patients in Brezovik, and this part of our work will be started during next month,” said Mr. Tankosić Kelly. “One of future results of this programme will be that, once UNDP has left, the Special Hospital for Lung Diseases Brezovik and other Health Institutions  will be able to maintain and improve High Quality of Tuberculosis Control Programme in Montenegro. We see Brezovik as the most important health institution in this Programme. Therefore, as soon as the Hospital assigns a person to manage the Microbiology Laboratory, we will assist in their education and specialization,” Mr. Tankosić Kelly stated.

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By the end of this year, Establishing and Pursuing a High Quality of Tuberculosis Control Programme in Montenegro, supported by GFATM and UNDP will spend in total more than 130,000 USD just for Brezovik hospital, partly for improving TB diagnostics system by establishing modern e-system for registering TB patients.

In total, project value  is 1.7 mil USD  for 5 years of its duration.

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More about the Project:

In line with the sixth UN Millennium Development Goal – combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, the Country Coordinating Mechanism developed a five-year Establishing and Pursuing a High Quality of Tuberculosis Control Programme in Montenegro, financed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). The UNDP Montenegro has been designated as a Primary Recipient of the funds and is responsible for the implementation of the Programme, which should result in significant reduction of mortality rate and reduction in number of new TB cases.

The Programme activities are being implemented in three areas:
 Improving of TB surveillance system – Establishing and maintenance of a new electronic surveillance system and its integration in the general surveillance system will allow data collection, and reporting of all the participants will contribute to the preparation of annual plans of activities and to the funding planning.

Improving of diagnosis and treatment and prevention of tuberculosis in the mentioned areas – The goals are: improving of country tuberculosis control system, expert trainings for all of its participants, as well as improving of general health care. Staff highly educated for the work on prevention and treatment of tuberculosis at different levels and increased participation of decision makers are the expected results of the mentioned activities.

Better informed community and increased public participation – This activity aims to a better quality of information for the public and people living with this disease, particularly to the reduction of stigma and increased participation of youth.