Introduction. Effective epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis is essential and one of the primary objectives for any national tuberculosis control program. At the same time, many years of experience in creating and operating systems for epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis showed that the success of their implementation directly depends on the validity of the structure of the collected data, on how the implementation and practical use process was organized, and, finally, on the functionality of processing and analyzing information. The aim of the study is to determine the principles of building a system for epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis, which are necessary for its effective use as a tool that ensures successful planning, implementation and evaluation of the results of anti-tuberculosis activities at the regional and national levels. Materials and methods. The analysis of the results of the implementation of the system of epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis, implemented at the level of the administrative region of the Russian Federation, and the experience of its implementation and development in various administrative regions of the Russian Federation and in Moscow in 1996-2020. Results. The analysis of the experience of implementation and operation of systems for epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis in the administrative regions of the Russian Federation in the late 90s and early 21st century is carried out. The main information blocks and their constituent elements are given, which should include a tuberculosis monitoring system, such as dispensary monitoring, monitoring the effectiveness of chemotherapy courses, mortality analysis, evaluating the effectiveness of a phthisiatric hospital / sanatorium, monitoring foci of tuberculosis infection, preventing tuberculosis in patients with HIV infection, laboratory register and X-ray card register of preventive examinations of the population. The main principles of constructing systems for epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis, which ensure its necessary efficiency and sustainability, are highlighted, the importance of ensuring the appropriate analytical capabilities of registers at all levels of its operation is emphasized, which is decisive for their successful implementation in practice. Conclusion. The systems of epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis, implemented taking into account the developed principles, provide an analysis of the epidemiological situation in the region, the results of which can be successfully used for making managerial decisions, program-target planning and evaluating the effectiveness of measures taken.