Morocco Opens Doors to Foreign Doctors Amid Healthcare Shortage

Foreign doctors will soon be able to practice in Morocco, officially indicated Mohamed Benchaaboun, during his speech before the Sovereign on the occasion of the launch of the generalization of the social coverage system at the Royal Palace in Fez, on April 14 last. For a real generalization of medical coverage, several challenges, including the lack of medical supervision, the lack of human resources and their unequal geographical distribution, must be met. Thus, to overcome the lack of practitioners, Morocco will open up to foreign skills and foreign investment in this field.

Currently, Morocco’s objective of having 3,300 new doctors per year has not yet been achieved, reports Challenge, specifying that in 2018, only 2,282 doctors were trained in the kingdom, compared to 1,715 in 2017. Despite this effort, several skills are emigrating, particularly to France, while others are retiring. According to a study by the National Council of the Order of Physicians in France, more than 8,000 Moroccan doctors born in Morocco practice in the country.

Furthermore, with the health crisis, the shortage of doctors has increased, making it difficult to achieve the generalization of the social coverage system. Currently, only 27,266 doctors practice in Morocco with 53% in the private sector, and a ratio of 7.1 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants, while the WHO sets this ratio at 15.3 doctors. In addition, young practitioners are not rushing to work in certain regions considered remote, such as Laâyoune, Sakia El Hamra and Guelmim-Oued Noun.

In this sense, the Provincial Council of Tata, in 2017, took advantage of the establishment agreement concluded between Morocco and Senegal in 1964, to collaborate with the National Order of Senegalese Physicians (ONMS) to recruit Senegalese doctors in order to meet the shortage. This approach has allowed the province of Tata to hire 20 Senegalese doctors in 2018.