Tunisia · Sunday, 30 August 2026
Doctors say patients are dying of the heat, ministry says it has recorded no deaths
Tunisia's Organisation of Young Doctors (OTJM) demanded on Saturday that the government immediately declare a health emergency, warning of an unchecked rise in hospitalisations and deaths linked to the heat wave and the strained power grid. Its head, Wajih Dhokkar, said people are dying in hospitals for lack of cooling and intensive-care beds. The health ministry responded the same day that it has recorded 633 heat-related interventions since 1 July but no deaths, a figure the doctors' union disputes since the authorities publish no death toll of their own.