A shortage of doctors and nurses is hurting medical care in Morocco.
From a lack of medical providers in rural areas to high drug prices, Morocco’s healthcare sector is plagued with problems.
According to official figures, there are currently just 19,770 doctors and 29,025 nurses practising in the public and private sectors.
These figures fall well short of the country’s growing needs, Health Minister Houcine El Ouardi admitted during a national health care forum that wrapped up Wednesday (July 3rd) in Marrakech.
Morocco needs to find an additional 7,000 doctors and 9,000 nurses.
But it is not just a question of making up the numbers, according to Abdelmalek Lahnaoui, the secretary-general of the Independent Union of Doctors. He underlined the need for balanced management of healthcare staff, given the difficulty of remedying the human resources shortage.
Moroccan doctors are emigrating in their thousands, exacerbating the problem at home.
The shortfall is having an impact on the quality of service provided to the public, especially at public hospitals.
“Going to a public healthcare centre is like going on an assault course. And that’s for a good reason: the number of healthcare professionals is woefully inadequate. We’re lagging behind our neighbours,” said sociologist Rahim Chentioui.
It is the worst in remote regions. Access to care can be hard to come by for rural Moroccans.
To deal with the problem, a new pay system is necessary based on where doctors work and where they are needed, according to Dr Abdelkader Tarfai, the secretary-general of the healthcare arm of the National Union of Moroccan Workers (UNTM). He said this would be certain to encourage doctors to work in remote regions.
Officials must also look at good governance in order to make the best possible use of existing resources, and also lower drug prices.
The health minister said that the government was examining these two key issues and efforts were being made to achieve objectives gradually.
He acknowledged that current performance falls short of expectations despite the large amount of work that is in progress and achievements to date. He attributed that to the ministry’s limited resources. The healthcare budget for 2013 is 12.372 billion dirhams, which represents a rise of 4.14% compared to 2012.
Members of the public are critical of the failings within the sector and want to see an improvement in the health service. Hnia Chatibi, a bank clerk, said that even people living in big cities such as Casablanca and Rabat complain of poor healthcare and prefer to go private even if they have little money.
“The number of healthcare centres remains limited while needs are great. If you go to a public centre, you have to be very patient while waiting your turn. And you have to wait months for an appointment. This situation needs to be sorted out,” she said.
Health 2013-07-09
Morocco looks to fix health sector failings
By Siham Ali in Rabat for Magharebia – 09/07/2013
