Tunisia honours first female doctor on new bank note

The North African country's new ten dinar bill carries a portrait of Tawhida Ben Cheikh

Tunisia honours first femal doctor on banknote

Tunisia honours first femal doctor on banknote
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There's a new face in shops across Tunisia.

The North African country's new ten dinar bill carries a portrait of Tawhida Ben Cheikh, Tunisia's first woman doctor.

The banknotes went into circulation at the end of March and Abdelaziz Ben Said, director at the Central Bank of Tunisia, said she was chosen as a way of honouring women in the scientific and medical fields.

Born in 1909, Ben Cheikh was the first Tunisian and North African woman to practice medicine.

After studying in France, she opened her own clinic in Tunisia in 1936 and also established "Leila", the first Tunisian, French-language magazine for women.

The new banknote has widely been seen as a positive move.

The country has ground to a halt in a bid to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus with 574 confirmed cases and 22 deaths. At least 5 people have so far recovered.