First milestones of a national mental health strategy

Morocco begins a profound change in its Health system. In the House of Councilors, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, the minister of Health and Social Protection, Amine Tahraoui, lifted the veil on two essential sites to 2030: on the one hand, the overhaul of the mental health device, long relegated to the background; On the other hand, the revitalization of human capital in the sector, a sine qua non condition of fair and effective health coverage. These announcements mark a strategic turning point in the kingdom’s public health policy.

The Ministry of Health is preparing to deploy a national mental and mental health program at the area of ​​the territory. This initiative, which responds to what the Minister calls “awareness of structural challenges”, aims to correct the imbalances in a sector suffering from chronic under-financing, shortage of qualified personnel and an obsolete legislative framework.

From May 2025, technical meetings, placed under the direct supervision of Amine Tahraoui, will come to lay the foundations of this strategy. This is part of a global movement to recognize mental disorders as a major public health issue, with the lasting consequences on quality of life, social cohesion and national productivity.

The diagnosis drawn up by the ministry is final: the country is sorely lacking in mental health professionals. In 2025, Morocco had only 319 psychiatrists in the public sector and 274 in the private sector. The child psychiatrists are even rarer: 62 in public establishments, against 14 in the private sector. To this are added 1,700 nurses specializing in psychiatry, mainly in the public sector.

To respond to this deficiency, 123 new budgetary positions were created between 2024 and 2025, including 34 for psychiatrists and 89 for specialized nurses. But beyond recruitment, the ministry relies on a structural reform of training. It plans to increase the capacities of the higher institutes of the nursing and health techniques (ISPITS) and to strengthen bridges with universities in order to develop the research applied in mental health.

The 2030 National Multisectoral Health Multisectoral Strategic Plan provides for a complete restructuring of the supply of psychiatric care: generalization of services specialized in public hospitals, creation of external consultation units, deployment of mobile teams for psychosocial emergencies, and implementation of social rehabilitation systems.

These actions will be accompanied by an updating of therapeutic protocols and an adaptation to the epidemiological realities of the country. Above all, the ministry intends to review the legislative framework relating to mental health, in order to supervise hospitalization, guarantee the rights of patients and integrate international standards in respect of human dignity.

In parallel, the reform of human resources in the health sector is a transversal priority. Objective announced by the Minister: go from 17.4 to 45 health professionals for 10,000 inhabitants by 2030, in accordance with WHO recommendations. To achieve this, Morocco is based on a framework agreement signed in 2022 with the Ministry of Higher Education and that of the economy, supported by an envelope of more than 3 billion dirhams.

Between 2022 and 2024, the number of places in license in health professions jumped by 206%, reaching 8,360, with an target of 11,900 in 2029. The master’s cycle, on the other hand, increased by 353%, totaling 680 places.

The territorial network of the training has been reinforced by the opening of new Ispits in Tangier, Guelmim, Dakhla and Zagora, and by the creation of three medical faculties in Errachidia, Béni Mellal and Guelmim, coupled with three regional CHUs, which will contribute to the training and the service of proximity care.

The number of budgetary positions allocated to health executives increased from 4,000 in 2019 to 6,500 planned for 2025, including 60% for nurses and technicians. Regional governance has been established: since 2020, regional departments can organize their own recruitment competitions, guaranteeing better responsiveness to local needs.

In terms of deployment, 1,837 new specialist doctors will have been assigned between 2022 and 2025. In 2025 only, 446 doctors will join the system, followed by 566 others distributed in areas with strong shortage such as Al Hoceïma, Azilal, Boujdour and Tinghir.

The site of the generalization of health coverage is advancing. At the end of 2024, 88% of the Moroccan population benefited from a health insurance plan, in particular thanks to the affiliation of 3.8 million self -employed workers at the CNSS. A national campaign supported this dynamic, focused on raising awareness of membership and regular payment of contributions.

But to guarantee the sustainability of this coverage, the minister insists on the need to restore confidence in public services, improve the quality of care and ensure lasting funding, based both on contributions and on national solidarity through the management of vulnerable populations.

The ministry finally relies on the creation of territorial health groups, a real decentralized structures responsible for coordinating health policies at the regional level. A new health map is being developed, based on the specific needs of each region and intended to rationalize the distribution of equipment, staff and services.