Kiosk360. The CNDH has just released its report on the health sector in Morocco. He paints a picture that is far from reassuring, but also suggests ways that would allow the sector to better meet the needs of citizens. This article is a press review taken from the daily newspapers Al Ahdath and Assabah.
Alarming! This is the least that can be said of the latest figures revealed by the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), relating to the health sector in Morocco. It was on the occasion of the publication of its report “Effectiveness of the right to health: challenges, issues and ways of strengthening”.
The main Arabic-language dailies appearing this Monday, April 25 are interested in the lessons provided by this document. This is the case, for example, ofAl Ahdath Al Maghribia who speaks of “shock numbers”. These concern several aspects of the health sector in Morocco, such as surgical operations. As the daily reports, each surgeon in the public sector performs an average of 166 operations per year. In other words, each surgeon performs no intervention for more than half of his effective working time.
Another figure put forward by the publication: the occupancy rate of hospital beds in the public sector. According to the CNDH document, it does not exceed 62%, for an average stay of 4 days per patient.
As the same source explains, the president of the CNDH, Amina Bouayach, also mentioned, during the presentation of the report, the low rate of consultations with doctors. The latter carried out an average of 789 consultations each year, or an average of 3.5 consultations per doctor per working day.
If these figures prove one thing, it is that the health sector suffers from inefficiency in the use of its resources, and particularly its human resources.
Moreover, for this purpose, the daily Assabah, which is also interested in these statistics in its issue of the day, points out that the sector also suffers from a trend of migration among doctors. According to the CNDH report, the number of doctors trained in Morocco and practicing abroad fluctuates between 10,000 and 14,000, knowing that the country suffers from a shortage estimated at some 32,000 doctors.
All this is obviously not without consequences for the proper functioning of the sector. Because of these shortages, healthcare equipment finds itself in some cases unused, while part of the healthcare personnel find themselves in “forced unemployment”. At the same time, in some establishments, the shortcomings cause a certain pressure with regard to a strong demand on the part of the patients.
Faced with the various observations made during the preparation of the report, the CNDH issued a series of recommendations to improve the performance of the sector and its ability to meet the needs of citizens. Among them, some relate directly to governance. As explained Al Ahdath Al Maghribiait is not so much an increase in the budgets allocated to the sector that is essential, but rather good governance allowing the sector first and foremost to take advantage of the resources it already has.