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Rabat – Pharmacies across Morocco are holding a 24-hour nationwide strike on Thursday in response to government inaction to implement what activists see as needed reforms.
A group of pharmacist unions and worker groups announced the 24-hour strike back in March.
The strike came following a series of negotiations between pharmacist unions and Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb.
On April 7, Ait Taleb received the unions to discuss several challenges, including pharmacists’ demands for reforms and the recent Court of Auditors report.
A report from the court urged the government to intervene and address the issue of elevated medication prices, stressing that some medicines are overpriced partly due to high-profit margins that reach as high as 57%.
The report recalled government policies that seek to reduce the prices of medication.
Despite the policies, over 44 types of medication saw a price increase, while 61% remained unaffected.
The report sparked uproar and frustration among pharmacists, who denied recording high-profit margins from medication sales.
Workers within the industry argued that the profit margins included in the report include a list of other operators like manufacturers, distributors, and taxes.
Another challenge discussed during the April 7 meeting was pharmacists’ dissatisfaction with reforms in the sector.
The unions accused the government of not acknowledging pharmacists as an “essential indispensable partner in improving the health system.”
Despite dialogue, unions maintained their plan for the national strike despite the discussions leading to action to tackle the aforementioned challenges.
Morocco’s health sector has been facing several deficiencies, including health worker shortages.
The court of auditors’ report stressed that the number of health workers per 1,000 per capita stood at 1.64 in 2021, way below the 4.45 minimum necessary to reach the sustainable development goals set by the UN.
