Tunisia 2010: Health in Tunisia - hospitals & hygiene - physician, doctors & dentists - pharmacies, vaccination

Tunisia has, at least in the big cities, hospitals and equipment matching European levels. There are many doctors who have attended universities in Europe.

Especially "private hospitals" offer a quality similar to that in Europe, albeit at a higher price than in the public hospitals.

Most Europeans feel uneasy about the, compared to Europe, lower hygiene among doctors and in hospitals - but in reality, this is only a negligible risk. There is also the question of whether the hygiene in Tunisia really much too low, or the one in Europe is exaggeratedly high.

Tunisia has several high-quality dialysis clinics, laser eye surgery and beauty clinics. The prices asked for treatment are significantly lower than the ones in most western countries.

Life expectancy in Tunisia is for men and women 70 years and more and is similar to some, but not all European countries. The infant mortality rate is very low in Tunisia.

When visiting a physician, the treatment price has to be paid immediately. Depending on the practice/hospital/specialty, such a treatment will be at 10-40 dinars (5-20 EUR/UKP, 8-30 USD), including simple methods (ECG, X-rays, etc.). Dentists treatment is about the same price, with costs of be material (fillings, etc.) being added. All doctors speak French and Arabic, most of them also English and some German.

Over the counter medicines in pharmacies must be paid in cash. Compared to high price countries, like Germany, the prices of drugs are lower and some can even be bought without prescriptions (eg. antibiotics, contraceptives).

Special and expensive drugs (eg. cancer medication) might not be available in Tunisia and should therefore brought, as well as medication of certain brands.

Generally, the consumption of tap water in major cities and tourist zones is safe, ones gest even used to the high chlorine content (in Tunisia, fluorine is also added to tap water). Only in very rare cases there is illness because of drinking tap water.

For a typical tourist stay, no special vaccination is required or needed - and even for long-term travelers who mainly stay in the tourist zones, vaccination is usually not necessary.

However, there is always the danger of yellow fever disease (hepatitis A and B), malaria, tetanus, meningitis (ticks) and various disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, depending on where one is staying, and how and what food is being consumes.

Inland, there is also the danger of snake bites and scorpion stings (sometimes fatal!), in the tourist zones on the other hand, it is highly unlikely to even see one of these animals.

The most frequent "tourist disease" is an upset stomach, which, in most cases, is the result of drinking cold drinks (although tourists tend to think of other reasons) - as a guideline, during the summer, one should not drink anything that is colder than 10-15 degrees centigrade (50-55 degrees F).

In addition, one should abstain from consuming unconserved (unpreserved) products that are made from eggs (eg. mayonnaise).

Some forms of conservation (preservation) of food might upset western stomaches as well, namely canned milk, cocoa drinks and pickled vegetables.

Finally, the pepper sauce "Harissa", which is used in almost all dishes in Tunisia, can cause stomach problems - it should only be used sparingly or not at all (actually, Tunisians have the same stomach problems as Europeans, but for them it is considered being "normal").

Health in Tunisia
Tunisia has, at least in the big cities, hospitals and equipment matching European levels. There are many doctors who have attended universities in Europe. Especially "private hospitals" offer a quality similar to that in Europe, albeit at a higher price than in the public hospitals. Most Europeans feel uneasy about the, compared to Europe, lower hygiene among doctors and in hospitals - but in reality, this is only a negligible risk. There is also the question of whether the hygiene in Tunisia really much too low, or the one in Europe is exaggeratedly high. Tunisia has several high-quality dialysis clinics, laser eye surgery and beauty clinics. The prices asked for treatment are significantly lower than the ones in most western countries. Life expectancy in Tunisia is for men and women 70 years and more and is similar to some, but not all European countries. The infant mortality rate is very low in Tunisia. When visiting a physician, the treatment price has to be paid immediately. Depending on the practice/hospital/specialty, such a treatment will be at 10-40 dinars (5-20 EUR/UKP, 8-30 USD), including simple methods (ECG, X-rays, etc.). Dentists treatment is about the same price, with costs of be material (fillings, etc.) being added. All doctors speak French and Arabic, most of them also English and some German.	Over the counter medicines in pharmacies must be paid in cash. Compared to high price countries, like Germany, the prices of drugs are lower and some can even be bought without prescriptions (eg. antibiotics, contraceptives). Special and expensive drugs (eg. cancer medication) might not be available in Tunisia and should therefore brought, as well as medication of certain brands. Generally, the consumption of tap water in major cities and tourist zones is safe, ones gest even used to the high chlorine content (in Tunisia, fluorine is also added to tap water). Only in very rare cases there is illness because of drinking tap water. For a typical tourist stay, no special vaccination is required or needed - and even for long-term travelers who mainly stay in the tourist zones, vaccination is usually not necessary. However, there is always the danger of yellow fever disease (hepatitis A and B), malaria, tetanus, meningitis (ticks) and various disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, depending on where one is staying, and how and what food is being consumes.	Inland, there is also the danger of snake bites and scorpion stings (sometimes fatal!), in the tourist zones on the other hand, it is highly unlikely to even see one of these animals. The most frequent "tourist disease" is an upset stomach, which, in most cases, is the result of drinking cold drinks (although tourists tend to think of other reasons) - as a guideline, during the summer, one should not drink anything that is colder than 10-15 degrees centigrade (50-55 degrees F). In addition, one should abstain from consuming unconserved (unpreserved) products that are made from eggs (eg. mayonnaise). Some forms of conservation (preservation) of food might upset western stomaches as well, namely canned milk, cocoa drinks and pickled vegetables. Finally, the pepper sauce "Harissa", which is used in almost all dishes in Tunisia, can cause stomach problems - it should only be used sparingly or not at all (actually, Tunisians have the same stomach problems as Europeans, but for them it is considered being "normal").
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