The private pharmacy union suspended work on the motivating party formula in early November

The Tunisian Syndicate of Private Pharmacy Owners announced on Friday 30 October 2026 the suspension of work in the motivating party format for the benefit of the National Sickness Insurance Fund from 1 November 2026. This action results in the suspension of drug delivery to participants through this system at entire pharmacies across the country.

The decision to suspend came after the union's National Enlarged Body meeting on October 27, 2026, where the union took the step to continue breaking the fund's contractual commitments and non-settlement of the pharmacist's arrears, along with debt accumulation, increasing tax burdens on professionals, continued difficulties in supplying medicines and shortages in the local market.

The Syndicate of Special Pharmacies said that it had informed the Fund and all interested parties since 19 October 2026 that it was impossible to continue working in this format if contractual obligations were not respected, stressing that the procedure is based on the provisions of the Sectoral Convention for the Relationship between the Parties and applicable health insurance laws.

The pharmaceutical sector had seen similar crises and threats to suspend the work of the contractual system in mid-2026 and suggested legal action for non-compliance with a financial agreement signed on 15 January 2026, at a time when the fund's incentive party system imposed paying the covered share directly to the pharmacist with only the patient paying the difference.

The Syndicate is seeking to communicate with the Fund's management in order to coordinate jointly to identify mechanisms for handling the profiles of social insured persons and facilitate their access to medicines, in preparation for the official announcement of arrangements once agreed between the parties.