The Arab Spring in Tunisia: Urgent Plea for a Public Health System (R)Evolution

Abstract

One year after former President Zine El Abdinine Ben Ali suddenly escaped Tunisia fleeing from a popular revolution Tunisian society is experimenting with freedom of opinion in a chaotic mode. Hopefully with the recent election of Moncef Marzouki (a former opponent and renowned neurologist and epidemiologist) as President of the Republic on December 11 2011 democratic pillars will be erected progressively even if religious considerations interfere in the process. Unfortunately the international media has gradually shifted its attention away from the post revolution reconstruction which although of paramount importance is definitely less impressive than the revolution itself and difficult to investigate. A newly elected government is being installed to adopt a novel constitution and a solid socioeconomic plan for the coming years. Under the former dictatorship the Tunisian health system experienced some transient positive gains but recently there has been a progressive impoverishment of the hospitals and health centers. This impoverishment is extremely dramatic in second-zone regions of the country but has also become obvious in the main cities such as Tunis Sfax and Sousse. The author urgently calls this new government’s attention to the status of the public health system in Tunisian especially to the newly elected President of the Republic who is aware of health problems because of his former occupation. An efficient health system is the core guarantor of the physical and mental health of a society and should be without delay handled by competent authorities. Access to efficient health care is a human right.