Morocco To Reform Healthcare
by Carole Morris on February 6, 2008
PERSISMA, Moroccan Health Minister, Yasmina Baddou announced a new strategy to bring reforms to the health care sector in Morocco. The plan set to run from 2008 to 2012 will have two basic priorities. First, it is making treatment accessible to the lesser privileged of Morocco’s citizens and, secondly, bringing down the costs of health care and medicine.
The Health Ministry wants to augment the patchy distribution of health services and professionals to all geographical areas of Morocco. Now, Morocco has forty-six doctors for every 100,000 residents with almost half of those being in Rabat and Casablanca. Morocco has 130 hospitals and 2000 basic health care centers. Many in the outlying areas are forced to travel to the major cities for treatment. Plans are to restructure the national healthcare system to have regional centers and decentralize management of the facilities. According to Minister Baddou, all members of the public should have accessible, high-quality care, no matter where in Morocco they reside.
Improved contact with the public health service is one of the goals of the plan. Another is providing competitive, high performance health service. Hopes are that patients will see an improvement in the advice given and timeliness in treatment.
Getting the medicines and drugs to the people is another major challenge. Health Minister Baddou estimates that drugs account for a large part of the state budget. The management system fails to make drugs available everywhere. She says the ministry needs to think about decentralization and set up an accountability system.
Treatment of cancer, diabetes, mental health problems as well as other conditions requiring long time care is another target in the reforms. Minister Baddou hopes that the level of care in hospitals will be improved and co-ordination between hospitals and clinics will provide a picture of the nation’s health. This kind of information will help the Moroccan government to implement and broaden the medical assistance regime. Morocco wants to bring the level of deaths in childbirth down from 227 per 100,000 to 50 per100,000. Infant mortality rates are to be reduced from 40 per 1,000 births to 15 per 1,000 by 2012.
Ridding the public hospitals of corruption is a major component of the new plan. A system for victims to file formal complaints will be set up and a partnership with Tranparency Maroc. Preventive measures will be put into place as well as sanctions levied. Raising moral standards in the health care system is another part of the plan. NGOs and the public sector partnerships will help in reaching the goals of the plan. The government is aware of the value of working with the private sector to bring about the improvements in health care future in Morocco.
Source: http://www.journeybeyondtravel.com/news/morocco-travel/morocco-reform-healthcare.html
