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Rabat – The Independent Union of Public Sector Doctors issued a national statement yesterday, denouncing the Moroccan government’s proposed healthcare reforms as “empty promises” that fail to protect the rights and job security of medical professionals.
Representing doctors, pharmacists, and dental surgeons, the union argues that the new healthcare measures erode their long-standing achievements in the field and foster instability within the public health sector rather than providing needed support.
Among its key grievances, the union cites the absence of guaranteed protections for “full public employee” status and the removal of centralized, budget-funded salaries. It also condemns the exclusion of doctors from recent wage increases granted to other public sector workers and points to the government’s failure to fulfill a 2011 agreement that promised two additional pay grades for healthcare professionals.
These concerns have been further exacerbated by the 2025 draft finance law, eliminating designated financial posts for healthcare staff and shifting their salary funding to health groups rather than the national budget.
The union warns that the new legislation threatens the legal rights and benefits of public healthcare workers, undermining prior agreements signed with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and sector unions.
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The group declined to sign recent agreements due to what it describes as “broken promises” and repeated government backtracking, adding that its attempts to engage officials in dialogue have so far been ignored.
The union’s national office has issued a series of demands and protest actions, urging the government to restore centralized, budget-funded salaries and uphold healthcare workers’ full public employee status by amending Laws 08.22 and 09.22.
The leadership calls on the government to respect previous commitments, reverse controversial measures in the new finance law, and address urgent issues, including additional pay grades and salary increases for doctors.
A call to action
As part of its protest actions, the union has announced a national strike across all public health institutions, except for emergency and critical care units, scheduled for November 7-8.
Union members will enforce stricter sterilization and medical standards across facilities, with emergency cases as the only exceptions. Medical staff will suspend issuing non-essential certificates, such as those for driver’s licenses, while continuing to provide medical leave certificates.
The group also plans to boycott school health campaigns and surgical missions or mobile medical convoys that do not meet safety standards. Non-medical administrative tasks, including periodic reporting and attendance at non-essential administrative meetings, will also be halted.
In January, Morocco’s Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb addressed the critical shortage of human resources in the country’s healthcare sector, revealing that approximately 600 doctors leave Morocco each year. Speaking at a parliamentary session, he attributed these challenges to both migration trends and the specialization choices made by medical professionals.
The healthcare sector’s challenges are compounded by the ongoing boycott by medical students, who have been refusing to attend classes, training sessions, and exams since December of 2023. The students are protesting the government’s decision to shorten medical training by one year, citing concerns over declining educational standards and unresolved issues affecting the quality of their education.
