Tunisian doctors sound alarm on health system collapse

TUNIS, Tunisia — Ons Zouiten, a dentist, decided to leave Tunisia for Paris in 2008 to upgrade his credentials to include dental implants and periodontal plastic surgery. His wife, Iman, joined him in 2011, and they settled permanently in Paris. Zouiten told Al-Monitor that he had moved to Europe because he could not pursue further training or studies in Tunisia because of the lack of financial and facility resources at local faculties of medicine.

“When I first traveled, I did not think it would be permanent and that I would settle in France,” Zouiten said, speaking by phone. “I wanted to go back to Tunisia, but when I completed my studies, I noticed a huge difference between work conditions in Paris and Tunisia in terms of salary, as doctors in Tunisia earn less and can barely make ends meet between the clinic’s rent and medical appliances, especially in the country's central provinces. I had a more promising professional and family outlook in France, and I decided to stay. I still visit Tunisia regularly to provide professional training to dentists in dental implants.”

Zouiten is just one out of thousands of cases of Tunisian doctors who, given the lack of opportunities in Tunisia, have pursued better professional opportunities and financial security in Europe, the United States, Canada and the Gulf. After the toppling of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the 2011 revolution, health services, including public hospitals, suffered like other sectors amid the social and economic upheaval.

Health sector employees have recently warned of an imminent crisis. Khaled al-Nabli, the head of the private clinic syndicate, said in a Feb. 12 press release that the health care system could collapse and that within the next 15 years, Tunisians will have to leave the country to obtain medical treatment.