HCP Study: Child Mortality Has Decreased in Morocco

Casablanca – The latest study from Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP) confirms that the country’s child mortality rates have gone down significantly, although inequalities persist between urban and rural areas and between quintiles of living standards and well-being.

“Mortality in the first five years of life has fallen sharply, with the risk of mortality before the age of five divided by more than three in nearly three decades. Although progress has been significant, it has not led to a significant reduction in inequalities, hence the interest in studying these inequalities,” the study found.

According to HCP, the disparities in the chances of survival and health of children from different backgrounds are not a matter of chance. They follow the outlines of socioeconomic disparities connected to the level of living, maternal education, and the regional and urban-rural split.

The study also found that the average number of years that a Moroccan infant is expected to live under 2018 mortality levels is roughly 76.9 years, a 2.7-year increase from 2004.

With regard to adult mortality, as measured by life expectancy at birth, the HCP analysis indicates that “life expectancy at birth of the population continues to increase and that the progress made does not impact all citizens in the same way.”

Urban dwellers have a longer average life expectancy than rural dwellers, the city found, saying this can be attributed to poverty and limited access to healthcare in rural areas.

The study also pointed to societal discrepancies in the face of death, as life expectancy among the most affluent is substantially greater at birth than among the poorest, with a difference of more than four years.

Titled “Trends and Inequalities in Death in Morocco,” this latest study by the HCP focuses on inequities in the face of death and its evolution by employing gap analyses based on data from health surveys done since 1992.

The study’s goal is to shed light on strategies to improve citizens’ living circumstances and to highlight the hurdles the large majority of Moroccans still face to access high-quality healthcare.

It contends that considerable achievements in mortality reduction are the consequence of improvements in population living circumstances. It also refers to initiatives at all levels of the health system to enhance access to treatment and increase preventative and curative interventions, particularly in primary care.

While Morocco has made noticeable progress on a number of metrics pertaining to the quality of life and life expectancy, the HCP study showed, there remains a pressing need to reduce inequalities — whether between socio-economic categories of the population, between places of residence, or between regions.

“In Morocco, recent mortality indicators show that the progress made does not benefit everyone and that unequal developments between environments, regions, and social categories remain,” the study concluded.