International Forum with Continental Ambitions to be Held in Tunis
Objective: Establishing Tunisia as a Medical Hub Connecting Chinese Expertise with African Health Needs
On November 21 and 22, 2025, the Tunisian capital will host the Forum for the Development of Sino-African Medicine. This meeting, resulting from a program jointly developed by Tunis and Beijing, reflects an ambitious goal: transforming Tunisia into a platform for exchanges between two continents on health issues.
Professor Ahmed Laatar, who heads the rheumatology department at Mongi Slim Hospital in La Marsa, detailed the project's contours in an interview with RTCI. As the former head of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Center in La Marsa and coordinator of the twinning with the Traditional Medicine Hospital of Jiangxi, he places this initiative in the continuity of a half-century-old Sino-Tunisian medical cooperation.
Recent Diplomatic Momentum
This collaboration has experienced significant acceleration. High-level official visits in 2024 and 2025, including those of the Tunisian president and the Minister of Health, have strengthened bilateral ties. The visa exemption granted to Tunisians traveling to China now facilitates exchanges between health professionals.
The forum brings together Tunisian and Chinese speakers in equal numbers. A notable feature of the event is that nearly half of the participants come from the entrepreneurial world and start-ups. This assumed economic dimension aims to generate concrete collaborations beyond academic exchanges.
Thematic Debates
The debates are structured around specific themes. Traditional medicine and phytotherapy constitute the first part. China has a repertoire of several hundred medicinal plants, while Tunisia has a distinct flora. Knowledge exchanges in this field represent mutual interest.
Acupuncture forms the second pillar. This practice, taught in Tunisia since 1994, has become the country's primary alternative medicine. Innovative technologies and artificial intelligence complete the program. China is developing diagnostic aid devices that exploit facial or linguistic analysis.
Economic Argument at the Heart of the Discourse
Professor Laatar emphasizes the concept of integrative medicine, which combines traditional and modern approaches. This combination would, according to him, improve therapeutic results while reducing medication consumption, side effects, and healthcare expenses.
This last point is a central argument for African countries and Tunisia, faced with the financial burden of contemporary pharmaceutical treatments. The integration of alternative methods is presented as a pragmatic response to these budgetary constraints.
Regarding acupuncture specifically, the professor outlines its validated applications. Its effectiveness primarily concerns pain management, particularly in osteo-articular pathologies: arthritis, lower back pain, and certain inflammatory rheumatism.
It also finds indications in the treatment of stress, sleep disorders, and digestive problems. The specialist emphasizes that this practice benefits from official university teaching in Tunisia, that needles are strictly for single use, and that scientific bases, including brain imaging, validate its mechanism of action.
Operational Collaborations Already Active
The twinning between Mongi Slim Hospital and the Nanchang establishment is a concrete pillar of this cooperation. It currently allows the sending of Tunisian students and doctors to China for training fully financed by the partner institution.
In the long term, the Tunisian authorities aim to empower the system. This involves training local trainers and the gradual deployment of acupuncture in primary care structures across the national territory.
Professor Laatar downplays potential obstacles. Cultural reservations would fade in the face of growing public demand, while health authorities would adopt an increasingly favorable stance. The reputation of Tunisian medical excellence on the African continent constitutes, according to him, a major asset to legitimize this hub ambition.
