Morocco Faces Critical Shortage of 32,000 Doctors, Jeopardizing Health System Goals

Currently, the kingdom has 23,000 doctors and is short of 32,000 additional ones, to comply with the basic standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), indicates the CNDH in its report presented on Friday.

The document reveals that hospitals have an acute shortage of doctors, while needs should increase "rapidly" in the coming years, particularly with the generalization of social protection, population growth, aging of the population and the increase in chronic diseases.

According to the report, this understaffing is also characterized by a disparity between the regions. More than half of the health staff are concentrated on the Casablanca-Rabat-Kenitra axis, it is pointed out, adding that two-thirds of health professionals operate in four regions, while the others are spread over the remaining eight regions. This imbalance "hinders access to medical care for a large number of citizens," the CNDH said.