Tunisia's Health Minister on why the ‘One Health' agenda is key to MENA's health transformation
Regional partnerships and integrated health strategies are playing a critical role in transforming public health systems across North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, Tunisia's Minister of Health, Mustapha Ferjani, said in an interview with
Gulf Business
ahead of the upcoming 'One Health, One Future' regional
In a wide-ranging discussion, Ferjani highlighted the impact of Saudi Arabia's development funding in Tunisia's underserved areas, lessons from intra-regional collaboration, and the importance of embedding the 'One Health' framework — linking human, animal, and environmental health — into national policies. He also outlined Tunisia's efforts in operationalising the approach through legislative reform, capacity building, and cross-sectoral coordination.
As Tunisia prepares to host the summit co-organised with the World Bank and the Quadripartite, Ferjani called for deeper regional alignment, data sharing, and coordinated efforts to build resilient health systems and respond to emerging challenges.
The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has recently deepened its healthcare engagement in Tunisia, funding key hospital projects in underserved regions. How do you view the broader role of such regional development partnerships in transforming public health infrastructure across North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean?
Regional partnerships in MENA are strategically vital for the development of different sectors including public health in countries such as Tunisia. Investments from high-income countries, such as Saudi Arabia, are particularly beneficial as they foster shared growth while leveraging a deep understanding of regional contexts and specific challenges in comparison to international investments.
The SFD's funding of key hospital projects in underserved regions of Tunisia, such as Sbiba (Kasserine Governorate) and El Jem (Mahdia Governorate), with an overall commitment of over $1.23bn in soft loans and grants for various development projects, including significant contributions to healthcare, directly addresses critical needs and disparities in healthcare access.
We see the broader role of such regional development partnerships as transformative for public health infrastructure across the MENA region by bridging critical infrastructure gaps and expanding healthcare capacity, particularly in underserved areas, thereby enhancing service quality through the integration of modern technologies and international best practices. These collaborations promote sustainable development by building resilient healthcare systems with long-term operational frameworks.
Tunisia's collaboration with the SFD is part of a growing trend of intra-regional investment in health and development. What lessons can be drawn from Tunisia's experience that could be replicated in other MENA countries, especially those facing similar healthcare access challenges?
Tunisia's collaboration with the SFD demonstrates how successful intra-regional development partnerships are, especially when built on targeted investment, long-term commitment, comprehensive capacity building, and most importantly local ownership.
Among the key lessons that can be drawn from Tunisia's experience and that are highly replicable in other MENA countries facing similar public health challenges, is directing investments towards underserved regions to address geographical disparities in health and ensure an expanded equitable healthcare delivery.
Our Tunisian Saudi partnership also highlights the value of a long-term commitment and sustainable funding mechanisms, as such financial support allows for comprehensive planning and greater project longevity. Strong local ownership and seamless alignment with national health strategies, is another key lesson to be considered by other countries to ensure that external funding complements existing national plans and capacities, accelerating the transformation of public health infrastructure and improving healthcare access for millions.
With the upcoming 'One Health, One Future' conference for the North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean region, how do you see the 'One Health' framework shaping national health strategies across the region? Are there any current examples in Tunisia where this integrated approach has already been adopted or piloted?
Tunisia Ministry of Health foresees the 'One Health' framework playing an increasingly central and transformative role in shaping national health strategies across North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Our upcoming 'One Health, One Future' conference for the region is meant to accelerate the adoption of comprehensive One Health national strategies and foster greater inter-sectoral collaboration, moving away from siloed approaches in public health, veterinary medicine, and environmental protection.
Demonstrating a long-standing commitment to this integrated vision, Tunisia has prioritised efforts towards One Health. As early as 1994, well before the concept was formally established, the National Committee on Anthropozoonosis was created and then an early-warning system for avian influenza was established in 2000, combining border screening, farm testing, and wetland bird monitoring.
Following the ratification of the Paris Agreement in 2016, Tunisia's ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution to the UNFCCC further integrated environmental protection, climate resilience, and public health. Our commitment to One Health was also evident in the finalisation of the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in 2018, which led to scaled-up AMR monitoring to include fish, dairy, and meat. By 2019, cross-sectorial collaborations between the Ministries of Health, Commerce and Agriculture lead to Law 25 on the sanitary safety of food products.
More recently, in 2022, Tunisia launched a new legislative project led by its national One Health committee and established the One Health Laboratory at Tunis Pasteur Institute. Later in December 2023, the Ministry of Health joined efforts again with other Ministries to draft the joint One Health national roadmap, setting clear objectives for improved surveillance and coordinated response. This commitment extends to capacity building, with Tunisian veterinarians completing FAO's One Health courses, and practical applications such as our successful rabies elimination campaigns, which achieved over 80 per cent canine vaccination coverage in 2024 through free, mandatory vaccination and nationwide educational campaigns.
Most recently, in 2025, Tunisia partnered with the World Bank to develop a Budgetary Action Plan further anchoring One Health in national planning.
Dr Tedros, the DG of WHO (left) with Mustapha Ferjani, Minister of Health of Tunisia (right). Photo credit – World Health Organization
Given the interconnected nature of human, animal, and environmental health in the region — particularly in rural and agricultural communities — what are the key capacity-building priorities to make 'One Health' a functional and sustainable model in Tunisia and beyond?
We aim to transform the 'One Health' approach into a dynamic driver for research, innovation, and resilience-building.
To achieve this, regional platforms for collaborative research must be strengthened, and innovation encouraged by establishing effective networks that include researchers, physicians, veterinarians, agricultural engineers, environmental scientists, economists, and data experts.
We also seek to enhance data sharing, jointly set regional priorities, and develop impactful collaborative projects.
Furthermore, we call for launching master's and doctoral programmes in 'One Health' within regional universities, through the preparation of joint training modules covering human medicine, veterinary medicine, environmental sciences, and public health.
In conclusion, we aspire to make 'One Health' a true lever for action, innovation, and resilience across our region.
How do you envision regional collaboration evolving post-conference? Could we see more institutional alignment, cross-border initiatives, or even regional task forces to advance the 'One Health' agenda collectively across the Arab world?
Hosted by the government of Tunisia and co-organised with the World Bank and the Quadripartite (WHO, FAO, UNEP, WOAH), we envision that our 'One Health, One Future' conference for the North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean region to provide a strong push towards greater institutional alignment and regional collaboration around the One Health agenda.
With the anticipated 'Carthage Declaration
',
this landmark event is designed to be a catalyst for deeper, more structured cooperation across the Arab world and aims to mainstream One Health from dialogue to action.
This means fostering formal agreements and common operational frameworks among health, agriculture, and environment ministries and agencies across the countries in the region.
We also foresee increased collaboration in tackling shared challenges, such as conducting joint disease surveillance activities along common borders, coordinated vaccination campaigns against transboundary zoonosis, collaborative research efforts into regional health determinants, as well as effective cross-border data sharing and risk assessments.
Tunisia's past engagement with Libya on zoonotic disease prioritisation and participation in Africa CDC's One Health workshops are early examples of this trend, which we expect to intensify with our One Health MENA Conference.
We also hope to see more countries in the region adopting national One Health roadmaps, similar to Tunisia's recent initiative, that are harmonized with regional priorities and international standards.
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