Telemedicine in Tunisia: links with European, Arab and African countries

Summary form only given. Telemedicine commenced in Tunisia in 1996 by some local and international experiences .The same year, the ministry of public health (MoPH) took the decision to include telemedicine in its strategic informatics project and to create the National Telemedicine Committee where are represented all concerned departments. Presently, the national network consists of 21 public telemedicine stations: 9 in general and university hospitals, 6 in specialized centres and institutes and 6 in district hospitals. Bilateral links are functional with French hospitals in Marseille Toulouse and Nice and Italian ones in Rome and Naples. Moreover, Tunisian centres are connected to international networks: i) Euro Mediterranean network promoted by the European Union within the framework of Eumedis project: Emispher, Emphis, BurNet, Genetics. ii) Afro-Arab network, promoted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU): Afro-Arab Telemedicine Network. iii) Francophone network sponsored by Geneva University Hospitals and Health on the Net Foundation: Tele-education and Telemedicine Network in Francophone Africa (RAFT). Telemedicine projects between Tunisia and Spain, Italy and India are in progress. In Tunisia, Telemedicine has been developing steadily despite some management problems which are on the way to be solved in the framework of the e-health programme. Links with several foreign institutions in Europe, Arab and African countries are increasing and progressing.