Slim Chaker

Slim Chaker (24 August 1961 – 8 October 2017) was a Tunisian politician who served as the Minister of Health from 12 September to 8 October 2017 before his death. A member of Nidaa Tounes, he was the minister of Youth and Sports from 1 July, until 24 December 2011, in the government of Beji Caid Essebsi.

Born into a family of the former Sfaxian notability, he was the son of Mohamed Chaker and the grandson of Tunisian politician and national movement figure Hédi Chaker. He obtained his baccalauréat at Sadiki College in Tunis in 1979, then pursued three years of undergraduate studies in mathematics at the École Normale Supérieure of Tunis until 1983. He also studied in Paris, where he graduated as a statistical engineer from ENSAE-CESD, and later, in 2008, obtained an MBA from the Mediterranean School of Business.

He was Minister of Youth and Sports from July to December 2011, in the government of Béji Caïd Essebsi. Became a member of Nidaa Tounes, where he was in charge of economic and social programs, he was the Minister of Finance in the government of Habib Essid from February 2015 to August 2016 and briefly Tunisian Minister of Public Health in the government of Youssef Chahed from September 2017 to his death.

Slim Chaker died on 8 October 2017 at the military hospital in Tunis following a heart attack, shortly after participating in a marathon organized by Nourane to promote the fight against breast cancer. He was succeeded on 7 November by Mohamed Trabelsi, and on 18 November Imed Hammami succeeded him.

On 9 October, a minute of silence was observed in his memory across public and private health institutions in Tunisia.

The Minister of Women, Family and Childhood, Néziha Labidi, decided to rename the “Octobre Rose” marathon, in which he had participated, in his honor.

Slim Chaker was married to Amel Miled and had three children: Mariem, Hajer, and Mohamed Ali.

On 23 November 2011, he was awarded the insignia of Commander of the Tunisian Order of the Republic.