Rabat – Women-managed households faced more difficulties accessing healthcare services compared to male-headed households during Morocco’s 2021 lockdown.
In a joint publication, Morocco’s Higher Commission of Planning (HCP) and the United Nations (UN) concluded that access to healthcare services was especially constrained for children in female-headed households.
Even before they are born, children from female-headed households are put at a disadvantage as they have limited access to health services in Morocco. The COVID-19 lockdown only made the trend worse, states the HCP-UN report.
Female-headed households reported difficulties accessing healthcare services at a higher rate than male-headed services, the HCP survey indicates.
The gap is even more prominent when factoring in the type of healthcare and geography.
Only 17% of female-headed households in rural areas declared having access to reproductive healthcare, against 63% for male-headed households, the report details.
In rural areas across Morocco, only 37% of female-headed households have access to antenatal – before-birth – and postnatal – afterbirth – healthcare services. The same rate stands at 69% for male-headed households.
As antenatal and postnatal healthcare services are provided for free in public hospitals, the report concludes that the gap is the result of constrained access to transit among others.
“Households managed by men on average have more resources to enable women to access healthcare services,” says the report, adding that education level is another key factor driving gender inequality in access to healthcare across Morocco.
Among Morocco’s uneducated populations, male-headed households remain more likely to access health care services at a rate of 65%; the rate drops to 49% for uneducated women-headed households.
While Morocco is not new to gender inequality, the report concludes, the COVID-19 outbreak and the ensuing nationwide lockdown have especially aggravated the trend.
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