Habiba Bouhamed Chaabouni set up Tunisia's first genetic counselling clinic in 1981. A profile of a pioneering woman in a country on its way to democracy.

Reporter: A pioneering woman in Tunisia

As the European Parliament celebrates  International Women's Day,

EuroparlTV went to Tunisia  to meet Habiba Bouhamed Chaabouni.

This famous geneticist set up the first  genetic counselling clinic in Tunisia.

Profile of a pioneering woman  in a country on its way to democracy.

At first when I talked about  specialising in medical genetics

I wasn't being understood  and encountered a great many difficulties.

Mostly because it was something new,  plus at the time I was still young.

So it was a new idea introduced by  a young person and a woman to boot.

At the time medical and research circles  were predominantly male.

Habiba Bouhamed Chaabouni  is a pioneer in her country.

In 1981, she set up the first  genetic counselling clinic

In Tunisia, the tradition  of marriage between cousins

increases the risk  of hereditary diseases.

In the 1990s, Prof. Chaabouni  opened a prenatal diagnosis clinic.

Since then, over 40,000 people have  visited the Charles Nicolle Hospital.

Very often when it came to patients,  especially children

with a probably  genetic and hereditary pathology,

they were not being looked after  as well as they should be, or so I thought.

When I sometimes saw mothers  with two or three children

that each had a serious  and incurable pathology,

I thought someone should  take an interest in these patients.

The quality of her research  won Prof. Chaabouni in 2006

the UNESCO L'Oréal prize, dedicated  to the most brilliant women scientists.

Initially people here  didn't have much faith in me.

The day I was awarded  the UNESCO L'Oréal prize

and L'Oréal organised  a reception in my honour here,

none of the ministers  came to the reception.

But her international reputation spurred  the government to court the Professor.

She was offered a political role  which she has refused.

Prof. Chaabouni remains critical of the  feminist policies promoted by the regime,

but underlines improvements secured  by women since Tunisia's independence.

The right to vote, divorce,  and the ban on polygamy

Tunisian women have enjoyed  a status, a personal status

and allowed them to go to school,  just like boys.

After the Jasmine Revolution and  the fall of Ben Ali's authoritarian regime

the scientist hopes that Europe will  consider Tunisia as a full partner

I wish the international community  and especially the European community

would support the desire of the people  to establish a real democracy,

and to maintain our cultural  and educational level.