Morocco Faces Doctor Shortage, Seeks Foreign Medical Professionals

To alleviate this shortage of doctors and especially with the generalization of medical coverage, the government must reform its health system by increasing the number of budgetary positions allocated to health and encourage foreign doctors to settle in Morocco. In this sense, the authorities are considering easing the procedure in order to facilitate access for foreign doctors. Currently, Morocco has 12,034 of which 3,857 are general practitioners, 7,559 are specialists, 458 are dentists and 160 are pharmacists, compared to 7,414 specialist doctors, 3,818 general practitioners, 456 dentists and 160 pharmacists in 2018, according to the health map.

Only 492 pediatricians, 456 gynecologists, 439 anesthesiologists-resuscitators, 402 radiologists, 350 traumatologists, 344 surgeons, 330 ophthalmologists, 309 cardiologists, 255 nephrologists, 222 psychiatrists, 211 dermatologists and 185 urologists are practicing in Morocco, reports Aujourd’hui Le Maroc. Worse, in neurosurgery there are 134 doctors, 128 doctors in oncology, 63 in hematology, 47 in nuclear medicine, 42 in cardiovascular surgery, 42 in medical resuscitation, 39 in cancer surgery, 32 in emergency and disaster medicine, 15 in immunology, 4 in toxicology, 4 in physiology and 2 in anatomy. For the paramedical staff in the public sector, its workforce is 31,657 compared to 29,738 in 2018, including 14,093 general nurses and 4,371 midwives.

Regarding the regional distribution, the Casablanca-Settat region tops the list with 2,990 doctors. This is followed by the Fès-Meknès region with 1,749, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra with 1,688, Marrakech-Safi with 1,658, the Oriental with 1,048 and Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima with 870. On the other hand, in Souss-Massa there are 584 doctors, 575 in Beni Mellal-Khénifra, 395 in Drâa-Tafilalet, 216 in Guelmim-Oued Noun, 181 in Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra and 80 in Dakhla-Oued Eddahab.

For the infrastructure, the kingdom currently has 149 public hospitals, with a capacity of 23,931 beds and 10 psychiatric hospitals with a capacity of 1,454 beds. The country has only 113 hemodialysis centers with 2,213 dialysis machines. In addition to these figures, the kingdom also shows a great shortage of equipment, especially regarding biomedical equipment and high-tech facilities.