THE SWISS AGENCY FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION (SDC) has been since 1998 providing financial and technical support to the health system in Bosnia and Herzegovina by implementing family medicine through the Project of Family Medicine Implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (FaMI Project).


THE FAMI PROJECT moved in 2001 from the phase of supporting the primary health care reform through additional education of health workers into the phase of family medicine implementation that, aside from the continuation of the education, added the creation of favourable conditions for practical implementation of newly gained knowledge and skills in family medicine practices. Since 1999, besides other outcomes, four centres for additional and continuous education of health workers have been formed; 811 doctors and nurses successfully completed the additional education in family medicine, 161 family medicine units have been reconstructed and/or equipped with medical equipment and furniture, and 20 percent of territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been covered with the activities. FaMI Project was realized with expert assistance of Geneva University Hospitals and implemented through two project offices in Sarajevo and Doboj.

FONDACIJA FAMI is a foundation, registered with the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has taken over a full responsibility for FaMI Project implementation  since October 1, 2007.


The overall goal of the foundation is the improvement of the quality and quantity of health and social care provided to the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the support to all the segments of the health and social care system, as well as their linking in order to achieve better accessibility, comprehensiveness and continuity of health and social care.


The SDC decided to continue supporting another phase of the FaMI Project through “Fondacija fami” in the period from 2008 until the end of 2010.


The overall goal of the project is to contribute to the provision of accessible, efficient and equal health care for the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the areas the project is covering. 


The specific project objectives are: 1) the enhancement of the scope and the quality of family medicine services provided to the population in selected areas, particularly including large segments of poor and vulnerable groups; 2) the establishment of partnership relations at the community level for provision of comprehensive health care, based on systematic synergies between health care providers, social sector and civil society; 3) the integration of project-supported approaches for the strengthening of family medicine services, the quality of primary health care, and community-based approach into the country’s health care system. Family medicine will still be in the focus of the project, while some fields of activities will be specially emphasized. This is foremost related to health promotion activities, community nursing, continuous professional development, and amelioration of the relations between health and social sector and civil society organizations


Project partners of major importance are the ministries of health care and social welfare, the ministries of education, municipalities, local communities, civil society organizations, health facilities, medical schools and faculties, public health institutes, schools, pedagogic faculties, health insurance funds, nursing and doctors’ chambers, family medicine associations, etc.


The primary beneficiaries of the project are health professionals from the primary and secondary health care level, representatives of the social welfare, educational and civil society sectors, stakeholders, through continuous professional development and advocacy. Secondary and the final beneficiaries of the project are the beneficiaries of the health care services (in the regions and cantons in which the project is being implemented), as well as the population indirectly included through the activities of prevention and health promotion. Special care will be paid to poor and marginal groups through the activities of the community nurse. Through dissemination of good practices the project will have some inlfuence also on the other actors of the society.