2023-06-14 14:59:36
In contrast to the significant shortage recorded in the number of health human resources in Morocco, a new report reveals that the Kingdom loses between 500 and 700 doctors annually, which may represent about 30 percent of the total number of doctors who graduate annually, due to emigration abroad.
The report, entitled “Brain drain in the medical field in Morocco.. Threats or opportunities?These mass migrations include all groups working in the health sector: specialized doctors, professors and students, and lead to “exacerbating” the shortage in the number of doctors in the country.
The study, prepared by the “Foundation of Medical Professors in the Free Sector,” indicated that Morocco’s efforts to address this shortage by adding 3,000 doctors annually “did not achieve the desired goals,” keeping the average number of doctors compared to the population far from the global average. 7.8 doctors per 10,000 people, while the WHO urges countries to reach a rate of 15.3 doctors.
In contrast to the escalating rates of emigration of medical talent, the same source explains, recording a decline in the number of foreign doctors practicing in the country, as only 50 foreign doctors joined Moroccan hospitals during a full year.
“Bleeding Doctors”
Recent figures from the Ministry of Health confirm the data of the study, revealing that up to December of last year, 28,892 doctors practiced their work in Morocco, compared to a third of locally graduated doctors practicing their work in Western countries.
The study highlighted that the reasons that drive doctors to migrate are mainly the search for better working conditions and a better future, especially with regard to salary, opportunities and standard of life, stating that other societal problems, linked to the negative image of doctors in society, also push them to make the decision to leave.
In this regard, the study confirms that while European countries, which urgently need one and a half million doctors, adopt an attractive policy to attract foreign doctors, including Moroccans, Rabat has not launched serious measures to confront and reduce this phenomenon, or reverse its course.
Officials and government institutions in Morocco have previously warned of the dangers of “bleeding doctors”, and in this regard, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Abdellatif Al-Mirawi, said in remarks Previously, “half of the 1,400 doctors who graduate annually emigrate to Europe,” which poses “major challenges” to the health system in Morocco.
Turn, reveal a report Last year, the National Council for Human Rights issued a “significant shortage” at the level of health staff, revealing Morocco’s need for 32,000 additional doctors, in addition to more than 65,000 health professionals, in the fields of nursing and medical care.
In addition to emigration abroad, the study indicated that what it described as “internal displacement” represents a serious phenomenon that threatens the quality of medical care services in the public sector, noting that large proportions of resident doctors and specialists refuse to work in public hospitals.
‘an alarming problem’
Al-Tayeb Hamidi, a doctor and researcher in health policies and systems in Morocco, explains that the migration of medical talent represents a “worrying problem” for the health sector in Morocco and other countries, noting that no health system can succeed in light of its weak human resources.
And the head of the National Syndicate of General Medicine adds, in a statement to Al-Hurra, that the problem of immigration will exacerbate further in the coming years, with the increasing demand for doctors from major Western countries, which are “exhausting” the competencies of southern countries, recalling recent study figures, showing that 70 percent Of the final year medical students in Morocco, they expressed their desire to emigrate.
The same spokesman explains that the current deficit will affect the health programs launched by Rabat, which relies on the sector in projects to generalize social coverage and expand Moroccans’ access to health services by 2025.
In this aspect, my acid highlights that the comprehensive health coverage projects and the generalization of compulsory disease insurance will increase the number of people wishing to benefit from various health services, which in return will impose “new challenges in light of the aforementioned shortage.”
In the face of these problems, the Moroccan government is working to motivate doctors to stay by approving wage increases. It is also discussing attracting foreign doctors to practice the profession, and doubling the number of medical school graduates.
In this regard, Hamidi calls for the need to speed up the adoption and proposal of solutions and laws to confront the deficit and avoid its exacerbation in recent years, pointing to the inevitability of also thinking about reaching understandings with European countries to compensate doctors and nurses who attract them by supporting training in the medical field within these countries. Southern Mediterranean.
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