Organization and education in occupational safety and health in Maghreb countries

The Maghreb consists of five countries of North Africa (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) which are members of a socio-economical community called the Union of Arab Maghreb. This paper discusses the organisation of occupational health, medical protection of workers and training in occupational safety and health in these countries. After a review of socio-economic and demographic data and legislative aspects, we report epidemiological and analytic data specific to each country concerning organisation and training in occupational health. Occupational medicine in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia has progressed but some deficiencies are still observed at several levels. Like countries of the European Union, cooperation between the Maghreb countries in occupational health and safety seems indispensable.