Morocco Country Brief
Community Health: Policy and Implementation Landscape Mapping in the Middle East and North Africa Region 2024
About
Country Context
Morocco is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa with approximately 37 million inhabitants. The total budget of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MHSP) represents 7.15 percent of the State's general budget.
The Moroccan health system has experienced significant progress, marked by improvements in survival and health indicators. Notable improvements have been recorded in key indicators such as life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate, neonatal mortality rate, and the maternal mortality ratio. Additionally, the system managed the COVID-19 pandemic remarkably well.
In its pursuit of better service quality and universal health coverage, the system is now preparing for a national reform based on territorial health groupings.
Overview of Community Health
Community health in Morocco has a long history of community-based initiatives. In 2019, the community health intervention strategy was launched during the Primary Health Care Forum, and its implementation began under a tripartite agreement between the MHPS, the National Initiative for Human Development (Initiative Nationale de Développement Humain (INDH)), and UNICEF. This facilitated the design, implementation, and evaluation of a Moroccan model of community health, or “Dispositif de Santé Communautaire (DSC),” which can be adapted to various contexts.
However, it is important to note the absence of an institutional framework that organizes and governs community health interventions. Currently, the existing regulatory framework is that which applies to associative work.
