(TAP) - The distribution of healthcare smart cards "Labes" started Monday morning in all the local and regional centres of the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM), and will continue until May 10, pending their commissioning in November 2019.

Kicking off the operation, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said this new smart card to be used by the insured in the payment of care benefits or the acquisition of medicines will curb the expenses of health care to nearly 100 million dinars a year.

Social Affairs Minister Mohamed Trabelsi pointed out, for his part, that the insured persons will continue at the time being to use the paper card until next November, pending the installation of the reading system of the electronic card in pharmacies, hospitals and physicians’ offices.

He pointed out that the smart card will allow service providers to directly access the data of about 7.5 million insured persons and ensure good governance and transparency of transactions.

In this regard, the minister specified that the volume of drug expenditure of CNAM is around 1,800 million dinars a year, with nearly 5% wasted because of corruption, knowing that it is a rate close to the international average.

Trabelsi added that the digitisation of transactions between service providers and the CNAM could generate between 90 and 100 million dinars.

Minister of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy Anouar Maarouf said his department, which participated in the achievement of this project, is working to digitise other sectors, including higher education