Introduction:
To analyze available smoking cessation services in Serbia

Methods:
Data were obtained through questionnaire sent in 2017 by Office for Smoking Prevention of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia to all primary health centers, institutes of public health, general hospitals, clinical centers and some special hospitals. Out of 232 institutions targeted, 154 completed the questionnaire, out of which majority were primary health centers (93 out of 158).

Results:
Results show that 36 institutions provide some smoking cessation interventions, while 19 institutions have smoking cessation counseling within functional or organizational units. Most of smoking cessation counseling services are functioning within different departments such as preventive centers, health promotion centers, GP services, while some of them are organized as separate functional units. Smoking cessation counseling units have been established in the period 1993-2016, while in some intuitions these units don’t function anymore. Smoking cessation is provided by various health professionals (epidemiologist, specialist of social medicine, specialist of hygiene, psychiatrists, nurses…). Only 15 institutions provided data on number of counseled patients showing that in 2016 in total, 529 patients applied for smoking cessation, 329 completed program, 226 stopped smoking within or after completing program, while 142 reported six months abstinence. Individual and group counseling are free of charge while pharmacotherapy is not covered by health insurance. Educational needs for smoking cessation were expressed by 114 institutions. Majority of intuitions (125 out of 154) participate in the some smoking prevention activities such as workshops in educational institutions and public events and more than 50% participate in the some of the activities on the occasions of world and national no tobacco days.

Conclusions:
Having in mind that there are approximately 2.5 million of smokers in Serbia, further activities aimed at better coverage with smoking cessation are needed.

Funding:
This work is not funded by any grant.