Morocco’s COVID-19 Test Pricing Sparks Controversy, Former Official Criticizes High Costs

"Contact case, I’m going to the lab this morning to get tested. 700 DH. Cash. No card terminal. No check. Next!" denounces the former head of ONE. He does a quick calculation. "The test device costs a maximum of 1 million dirhams. The consumable 150 dirhams. That is to say that my dear lab technician will have 550 dirhams to amortize his investment and of course his profit. But at this price, his machine is amortized after 1,800 tests. Let’s be generous: 2,000 tests. There are at least 40,000 tests per day in Morocco for 100 laboratories. So each laboratory averages 400 tests per day. In five days the machine is amortized," he detailed.

In this Covid-19 context, some countries require PCR tests from travelers as an entry fee or some prefer to multiply the tests. Result: chaos reigns over prices to the detriment of the poorest and the fight against the pandemic, observes Younes Maâmar. "Remember: cash. That is to say in the face of the Moroccan and in the beard of the tax administration. My lab technician and his accomplices must cross their fingers that this pandemic persists. It’s no longer a rent. It’s an insult," he denounces further. At this price, what percentage of the population of our country can afford to carry out preventive tests to protect themselves and their loved ones? This would be a coherent measure with the significant efforts that the State is making."

"Each Moroccan (and resident) has an allocation of five free tests per month. Beyond that, the tests are paid for at a reasonable price. The extraordinary IT system deployed for the vaccination campaign can very easily be used for this preventive and oh so critical measure on the eve of entering yet another (and surely not the last) peak pandemic phase. In a battle, the worst enemy is not the one in front of you but the one by your side who is supposed to be one of yours. The lab technicians join the cohort of Covid-19 rentiers," adds this former World Bank executive.