Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Health and Social Protection has agreed to the demands of the Independent Union of Public Sector Doctors (SIMSP) for better working conditions and compensation within the public sector.
After “more than a decade” of mobilization, the union reached an agreement with the Ministry of Health during a meeting held on February 22 with the presence of the Ministry Delegate in charge of budgeting at the Minister of Economy and Finance.
SIMSP and the Ministry of Health both reported the news in separate press releases.
Notably, the Ministry of Health had promised these reforms in December 2015 and August 2020 in response to meetings with SIMSP and protests organized by the union. The COVID-19 crisis further delayed both talks and action.
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The new reforms will be implemented over two years, starting from January 2023. Doctors, pharmacists, and dentists in the public sector will benefit from the measure that will see their compensation and professional status increase.
As for nurses and state-certified health technicians, they will all receive a promotion, increasing their ranking and thus their salaries.
The Ministry of Health stated that the reforms are just a first phase towards more talks and concretization of the demands. It also stressed that the new agreement aligns with the country’s efforts to generalize social protection and develop the health sector and its human capital.
With serious medical staff shortages, the Moroccan government seeks to shorten the training requirement for student doctors, increase incentives for doctors, and fight the ongoing brain drain. Still, 70% of final-year student doctors wish to leave the country while one-third of doctor graduates migrate.
While the ministry’s agreement to the SIMSP’s demands might be part of the government’s plan to counter the brain drain, the ministry stressed in the statement that the Tuesday meeting aligns with the government’s social dialogue agenda.
Different ministers and government officials have held meetings with public and private stakeholders within their sectors to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on vital sectors and advance the dialogue on long-standing issues. Yet many professionals expressed dissatisfaction with the results of social dialogue.
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