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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Record budget allocations for treatment of patients with rare diseases

Belgrade, 4 February 2021

At today's session, the Serbian government made a decision to allocate RSD 3 billion for the treatment of persons suffering from rare diseases in 2021, which is the largest amount so far for this purpose.

Considering that the treatment of these persons is one of the priorities of the government of Serbia, the continuity of allocations from the budget in the last eight years has been ensured.

For the first time, funds were allocated from the budget for the treatment of rare diseases in 2012, when RSD 130 million were provided for the treatment of eight patients. In 2020, 325 patients were treated for these diseases, for which a total of RSD 2.4 billion was allocated.

With record allocations for this year, the state will provide almost 24 times more money in the budget compared to 2012. The funds are intended for patients who are already on therapy, but also for those who are just starting treatment.

From 2012 to 2019, the number of patients treated from the budget increased by approximately 25 times (from eight patients in 2012 to 200 patients in 2019), while the number of rare diseases treated from the budget increased from two to 19 different kinds.

The government also adopted the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Determining the Origin of Property and Special Tax.

At the session, a decision was made on the formation of the Working Group for the development of a proposal for the development strategy of the start-up ecosystem of Serbia from 2021 to 2025.

By adopting the strategy, the development of the start-up ecosystem is set on a formal and systemic basis, and its goal is economic development, GDP growth, export growth and higher employment in our country.

The working group consists of 38 members, representatives of the state, civil and private sectors who will work together, using their knowledge and experience from domestic and foreign start-up ecosystems, to contribute to the content and quality of this document.

At the session, a decision was made on the formation of a working group for the construction of wastewater treatment plants and the connection of sanitary networks.

The government also made a decision on the formation of the National Council for Consumer Protection, which will work as an expert advisory body on improving the consumer protection system.