The ARP finance committee will soon look at a bill authorizing a loan of 76 million euros concluded with the French Development Agency. Objective: to depth the health infrastructure of the governorate of Sidi Bouzid.
An important step towards the modernization of the health system in Sidi Bouzid could soon be taken. The Committee on Finance and Budget of the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP) will examine, in its next meetings, a bill approving a loan of 76 million euros, intended to significantly improve health services in this region of the interior.
This bill was submitted in early July by the Presidency of the Republic and is part of a financing agreement signed in February 2019 between Tunisia and the French Development Agency (AFD).
The loan aims to finance a vast program to modernize health structures in the governorate of Sidi Bouzid. This provides in particular for the extension of the Sidi Bouzid regional hospital and the increase in its capacity, the rehabilitation of existing health infrastructure, the strengthening of hospital governance, as well as the transformation of local hospitals of Meknassy and Regueb into regional category B establishments.
Through this operation, the Tunisian state intends to reduce territorial inequalities in terms of access to care, while providing the regions of the interior with hospital services that meet current standards in terms of equipment, management and coverage.
This project arrives in a context where expectations in public health are particularly strong in interior areas, often faced with dilapidated infrastructure, a lack of qualified personnel and limited medical coverage. By concentrating efforts on a governorate like that of Sidi Bouzid, the government hopes to initiate a structural change in health equity nationally.
