Private pharmacy owners suspend work as a motive party

The Tunisian Syndicate of Private Pharmacy Owners has suspended work as a nationwide motivating party for the benefit of social insured persons belonging to the National Sickness Insurance Fund from Sunday 1 November 2026. This action followed a decision of the National Expanded Trade Union Authority held on 27 October 2026 after a binding agreement between the parties failed to be reached.

This decision obliges system participants to pay the entire price of medicines in cash at private pharmacies and then submit treatment files later to the Fund's interests to recover their expenses. This is because the Fund has not fulfilled its contractual obligations to settle accumulated financial receivables for pharmacies in specific areas, affecting its ability to supply and supply medicines.

The National Trade Union Office had issued an official notification to the Fund's management and the Ministry of Social Affairs on 19 October 2026 to warn of the impossibility of continuing to operate the current system without debt repayment. The parties had previous rounds of negotiations to avoid disrupting the interests of patients which included an agreement signed on 15 January 2026 and a follow-up meeting held on 25 June 2026 to settle payments and prevent the collapse of the treatment system without reaching a permanent final solution.

The relationship between the parties is included in the legal framework of the sectoral agreement organized by the formula of the driving party and the reimbursement system applicable to the sickness insurance scheme. The professional structures of pharmacists are waiting for the response of the National Health Insurance Fund to determine technical arrangements for depositing bills and coordinating patient file processing, pending any government settlement that could end the suspension of work under the agreement.