Tunisia: Connected health, sovereign cloud and AI at the heart of an ambitious reform -

In countries facing a shortage of qualified healthcare workers, digital solutions are increasingly being funded as a way to ensure long-term sustainability. Tunisia has also chosen this path, a decision that requires significant investment and strong oversight.

The Tunisian government has decided to accelerate the digital transformation of the healthcare sector. On Monday, February 9, the Minister of Health, Mustapha Ferjani, met with Lassâad Ben Dhiaf, CEO of Tunisie Télécom, and entrusted him with a mission structured around four key priorities.

The first involves providing high-speed broadband Internet access to all healthcare facilities, particularly primary care structures. The second focuses on deploying fully Tunisian cloud-based solutions accessible to both healthcare institutions and administrative bodies within the sector. The third priority is the integration of artificial intelligence, while the fourth concerns the establishment of an advanced digital call center.

Connecting all facilities: strengthening the front line

By expanding Internet access across healthcare institutions—especially those on the “front line”—the Tunisian state anticipates improvements in both the quality and safety of care. Connectivity is the cornerstone without which digital health services cannot function.

Without reliable high-speed Internet, it is impossible to implement solutions that streamline patient referrals, reduce diagnostic delays, prevent duplicate examinations, and ease hospital congestion. Connectivity enables telemedicine and remote expertise, widening access to specialists, reducing costly travel, and accelerating treatment, particularly in remote areas.

It also improves logistics through better tracking of medicines, vaccines, and medical supplies, limiting shortages and waste. Moreover, strong connectivity allows for faster and more efficient data reporting, supporting epidemiological surveillance, evidence-based decision-making, and more effective crisis responses.

Digital health on a 100% Tunisian cloud

Deploying digital health services on a fully Tunisian cloud aims to strengthen national sovereignty and control over sensitive health data. By hosting and processing medical information within Tunisia, the government reduces the risks of extraterritorial jurisdiction, dependency on foreign legal frameworks, and externally imposed contractual changes.

Local hosting also facilitates audits, traceability, access management, encryption key control, and clear clauses regarding reversibility and subcontracting. Operationally, a domestic cloud can reduce latency and improve service continuity for telemedicine, electronic patient records, and medical imaging, while limiting reliance on international connections.

If properly designed—with redundancy, immutable backups, continuous monitoring, and tested recovery plans—it can provide resilience suited to critical healthcare services. Finally, it can support the local economy, skilled employment, and innovation in analytics, AI, and public health, provided that high cybersecurity standards and strict data governance are enforced.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence represents a strategic opportunity to accelerate the modernization of Tunisia’s healthcare system. It can enhance governance, efficiency, and quality of care in a context marked by resource constraints and regional disparities.

By consolidating currently fragmented data across healthcare institutions, the CNAM, and national programs, AI could enable reliable dashboards for informed planning, better prioritization—such as reducing medical deserts—and more precise evaluation of ongoing reforms.

AI could also significantly reduce the administrative burden on healthcare workers through task automation (data entry, procedure coding, appointment management). The resulting time savings could be reinvested in patient care, improving outcomes and reducing errors.

Clinically, AI could strengthen patient safety and harmonize practices. Diagnostic support systems, particularly in medical imaging, and medication alert tools would be valuable in regions lacking specialists and could assist general practitioners.

In public health, predictive analytics applied to Tunisian epidemiological data could enhance crisis surveillance, enable early detection of outbreaks, and forecast needs for medicines or hospital beds, ensuring faster and more equitable interventions.

An advanced digital call center

Establishing an advanced digital health call center in Tunisia addresses a critical need: helping citizens quickly determine where to go, when to seek care, and what procedures to follow.

Telephone services, complemented by SMS, messaging platforms, and chatbots, ensure inclusive access, even for those less comfortable with digital tools or living far from healthcare services. Through structured triage and intelligent routing, the center can reduce unnecessary travel, relieve pressure on emergency departments, and speed up access to the appropriate level of care.

It also strengthens public trust by providing reliable, consistent information, particularly during health crises.

A long-standing ambition

According to the report Health Systems Review: The Post COVID-19 Situation in Tunisia, published in March 2024, Tunisia remains below World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations regarding the ratio of healthcare workers per 10,000 people.

The report, produced through a collaboration between the Right to Health program of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), African Alliance, International Alert–Tunisia, and led by chief researcher Skander Essafi, highlights persistent weaknesses that were further exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This crisis renewed the state’s commitment to digital transformation. The National Strategic Plan Tunisie Digitale 2020 was launched, making digital health a strategic pillar. Several projects were initiated, including a national health information system, electronic medical records, and health cards to unify citizens’ health identities.

Telemedicine was also deployed in northern, central, and southern governorates to bring specialists closer to remote communities. The government further announced the launch of a fully digital “smart hospital,” with plans to expand this model across multiple regions to offer remote specialized consultations.

At the conclusion of the meeting with Tunisie Télécom’s CEO, the Minister of Health praised the public operator’s technical and logistical support. The most difficult part, however, still lies ahead: moving from announcements to effective implementation.