Young doctors call Monastir protest after attacks in two hospitals

The Tunisian Organisation of Young Doctors has called a protest in Monastir on Monday, 6 July, following two attacks on doctors working in public hospitals over the past week.

The gathering will begin at Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital before participants hold a peaceful march towards the Monastir Court of First Instance, the organisation said. Residents, interns and medical students have been urged to take part.

The action follows an attack on a renal surgery assistant at Fattouma Bourguiba Hospital. According to the organisation, the doctor suffered a broken nose, required urgent surgery and was given 28 days of medical leave.

A second doctor was attacked during the same week at Ibn El Jazzar University Hospital in Kairouan. The organisation did not provide further details about the circumstances of that incident or the doctor’s condition.

Calls for stronger hospital security

The Organisation of Young Doctors said repeated assaults had created an increasingly unsafe working environment inside public hospitals.

It called for those responsible for attacks on medical staff to be identified and prosecuted under existing law. It also demanded tighter controls on access to hospitals and a national strategy to address violence in healthcare facilities.

The organisation linked the assaults to wider pressure on the public hospital system, arguing that weak security arrangements leave doctors and other staff exposed while carrying out their duties.

Monday’s mobilisation will place the issue before both hospital authorities and the judiciary, with the march ending outside the court responsible for the Monastir area.

No response from the Health Ministry or the administrations of the two hospitals had been reported by Saturday afternoon.