Health
From The Report: Morocco 2013
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Galvanised by encouraging policy-driven results, as well as by the 2011 constitutional amendments that enshrined access to health care as a basic right of all citizens, Morocco is securing the gains it has made over the past two decades. While health care indicators have shown improvements in recent years, a noticeable gap continues to exist between the country’s urban and rural areas, prompting new government programmes to correct this. Although the RAMED insurance scheme should greatly increase the number of people who have access to medical services, future success will depend on revamping existing infrastructure and deploying new equipment into less developed areas. The kingdom’s pharmaceuticals sector has seen steady growth over several decades, with the number of local and foreign manufacturing units growing from 13 facilities in 1975 to 32 in 2011. Sales reached €755.7m in 2012, a 4% increase on 2011 figures. Production accounts for 70% of local consumption, but exports are still low compared to capabilities, at 10% of annual output.

This chapter includes an interview with Houssaine Louardi, Minister of Health.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Enhancing provision: Focusing on expanding health care access and improving infrastructure
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Galvanised by encouraging policy-driven results, as well as by the 2011 constitutional amendments that enshrined access to health care as a basic right of all citizens, Morocco is securing the gains it has made over the past two decades. The government is hoping a regional approach to health care management will help improve governance and reduce the disparity in health care provision between urban and rural areas. PATTERNS: In many ways, the challenges the country faces today are related…

Interview

OBG talks to Houssaine Louardi, Minister of Health
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Interview: Houssaine Louardi What are the main challenges facing the introduction of the medical assistance regime (Régime d’ Assistance Medicale, RAMED)? HOUSSAINE LOUARDI: The two principal challenges in implementing the RAMED scheme, which will provide health insurance for low-income families, are the staffing levels in the medical sector and difficulty in securing medicine and expensive medical implants. Other challenges concern health care provision for long term and costly ailments; improving…

Analysis

Caring for those in need: A new programme is making health care available to lower-income communities
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In a bid to reduce the gap between health care access in urban districts and rural areas, as well as increase support for low-income citizens, the government has shifted rolling out its new health insurance programme into full gear. The new medical assistance regime (Regime d'Assistance Medicale, RAMED) was officially inaugurated by King Mohamed VI on March 6, 2012, and full implementation began in January 2013. More than 4m people of the targeted 8.5m eligible beneficiaries have already gained…