Sudan

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Dr Imene Jallouli – Psychiatre Tunis Ariana – Psy

Dr. Asma Belarbi, psychiatre, psychothérapeute et sexologue – thérapie de couple

Dr Ines TRABELSI

There is no available information on background and context about counselling in Tunisia.

In Tunisia, The country also suffers from a crucial shortage of mental health professionals, especially the psychosocial workers (e.g., psychologists, social workers). There is a total of human resource of 8 per 100,000 population.

There are 16 public outpatient mental health facilities available in the country, 7 community-based facilities and a single mental hospital. Few services are afforded to children and adolescents. The main users belong to the groups of schizophrenia and mood disorders. Women are underrepresented in inpatient units. Psychotropic medicines are available everywhere. In terms of affordability of mental health facilities, the system still suffers from an imbalance with a crucial lack of community-based services such as residential facilities or day treatment facilities. 

In Tunisia, all primary health care clinics are physician based and almost all of them have assessment and treatment protocols for key mental health conditions available. Only doctors are allowed to prescribe psychotropic medications, whatever the circumstance and without restrictions. In addition, a few NGOs are involved with mental health in the country, mainly in child psychiatry and rehabilitation. Lastly, there is a coordinating body to oversee public education and awareness campaigns on health and illnesses in general, which also include mental health and mental disorders.

• Limited child and adolescent mental health services.
• The lack of mental health services in the face of an increasing demand for care.
• The absence of an effective mental health information system at all levels.
• The imbalance between the mental hospital and the community mental health facilities.

The most critical barriers are the pervasive social stigma which hampers the access to care, the lack of development of consumers associations, as well as the lack of access to work and housing for mentally ill people.

For more information about the counselling profession in the state, interested readers are encouraged to read the following journal and website articles:

• World Health Organization (2008). A report of the assessment of the mental health system in Tunisia using the World Health Organization – Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS).