The generalization of health coverage in Morocco, this major project led by King Mohammed VI, presents many challenges, the first of which is its implementation by 2022. This quastion was at the center of a debate organized by the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), with the participation of experts from different fields.
While the generalization of social coverage must be done by next year, several challenges are still pending and raise questions of organization, overhaul but also of the financial sustainability of this major project.
Morocco must face a triple transition to implement this generalized coverage, said the director of the National Fund for Social Welfare Organizations (CNOPS), Abdelaaziz Adnane, who spoke at the round table organized by the PCNS in partnership with the ‘EuroMeSCo, which was also aware of the participation of the Ambassador of the European Union to Morocco, Claudia Wiedey, the former Minister of Health, Anass Doukkali.
Among the challenges that Morocco will have to face, is the accelerated aging of the population, the sustainability of this regime in the face of social and demographic changes, and the taking into account of another reality, that of the prevalence of serious chronic diseases in the world. Morocco.
They concern 6% of the population, and it is this category that consumes half of the country’s medical services. In France, the chronically ill represent 12% of the population and consume three quarters of the services.
In addition, there are several unanswered questions, including the problem of medical deserts, the question of why Moroccans have to pay for certain drugs three times more expensive than a European when they are the same drug and the same manufacture. This price difference represents no less than 300 million dirhams of losses for the CNOPS, indicated its director.
For his part, Larabi Jaidi, senior fellow at the PCNS, underlined, during this debate led by the former minister and diplomat, but also PCNS expert, Nouzha Chekrouni, that the problem of heterogeneity should be addressed. and correcting existing dysfunctions by favoring the coherence of the system in place and harmonizing it, “which cannot be done without an approach to governance and the responsibility of all actors”.
In addition, the European Union, represented by its European Ambassador, wishes to get involved in this major reform project as part of its strategic partnership with its partners in the southern neighborhood. “We are still engaged in the Morocco process, in this important area,” said Claudia Wiedey.
“With Her Majesty’s announcement, the new development model and our own strategy for the neighborhood which is also retargeted, I believe that we have all the means to continue our commitment,” he said.
“We discussed today essential questions, the question of governance, the financing of basic medical social coverage for everyone with an equal basket, these are objectives that we share together. These are the same values that we have as Europeans ”, she reacted.
Regarding the implementation of this new project in Morocco, Claudia Wiedey felt that it will certainly be different than in Europe but that the advantage that Morocco has is that it can benefit from the experiences of European countries. .
“Here, in my opinion, we have an advantage, Morocco can, if it wants, take advantage of the best knowledge and expertise that we have (within the member countries), and of course we remain committed with a fairly broad program. . For us, social protection also means the right to access to quality education, coverage in cases of lack of work, precarious situations, and also the question of basic social coverage for health…. all these elements must play together and they are the bases of a balanced society, in peace, which can develop, and which is an asset for the development of a country. This is the reason why we also remain committed for the next seven years, ”she concluded.
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