MP Loubna Sghiri sent a written question this week to the Minister of Health and Social Protection concerning the spread of measles in the cities of northern Morocco. According to the data cited by the parliamentarian, member of the Progress and Socialism (PPS) group in the House of Representatives, Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma has experienced a worrying increase in infections in recent months.
“A large number of contaminations, estimated at several hundred, have been recorded in the Chefchaouen region, with two deaths. The Mohammed VI University Hospital in Tangier also received 448 cases during the year 2024, including 332 over the last three months,” alerted the MP.
The other regions of Morocco are not left out. Nationally, infections reach at least 19,515 cases, or 52.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, including 107 deaths. Half of the deaths are mainly among children under 12 years old, hence the imperative of double dose vaccination.
The challenges remain considerable, especially with the decline in vaccination coverage in recent years. Doctor and researcher in health policies and systems, Dr Tayeb Hamdi previously estimated that the situation was symptomatic of a relaxation which would not be specific to Morocco, but whose root causes must necessarily be defined, given the growing vaccine hesitancy across the world.
Measles, one of the most widespread infectious diseases
Director of the Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control at the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Mohamed Lyoubi said on Thursday that the government had been taking action against the spread of measles since September 2023, the date of start of the epidemic. Invited to the midday television news on 2M, the manager indicated that this response was part of a vigilance plan, particularly aimed at children from 9 months to 18 years old.
“This means that the role of the ministry is to go to establishments to monitor the status of cases and follow up people who have never been vaccinated or affected by the disease,” underlined Dr Lyoubi. Recalling that the national program for this purpose provided for two doses, the official insisted on the fact that protection was only effective with the double injection and not a single one.
In the same context, Mohamed Lyoubi affirmed that the current figures confirmed the epidemic, hence the importance of the catch-up campaign. “This trend concerns Morocco as well as several other countries, in Africa, North America or Europe, given the characteristics of this virus, known for its rapid spread,” he told Channel 2. According to the specialist, “one affected person can contaminate nearly 9 out of 10 others”, which makes measles “one of the most widespread infectious diseases”.
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Regain vaccination coverage before the health crisis
Mohamed Lyoubi also confirms the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as doctors, recalling that “the solution to fight the epidemic is to reach the level of vaccination coverage where we were before”, which exceeded the 95%. “Since September 2023, [au Maroc, ndlr] have been recorded mainly in children aged 18 months to 12 years. These are people who are supposed to have benefited from the vaccine,” he insisted.
In the context of the health crisis linked to Covid-19, in 2020, vaccination campaigns against childhood diseases were maintained. “They have demonstrated their effectiveness since the restructuring of the eighth national program” against measles in Morocco, i.e. 1986. But in the context of the pandemic, they were “weakly received”, going hand in hand with “a global wave of skepticism regarding to the effectiveness” of this initiative, lamented the specialist.
Indeed, the available figures show that the epidemic was effectively controlled in Morocco, between 1987 and 2014, within the framework of the National Strategy for the Elimination of Measles and the Control of Rubella. After accumulated peaks of 10,723 cases in 1999 and 10,841 in 2003, the evolution of vaccination coverage made it possible to drastically reduce the infection curve from 2008. From 2013, this rate reached 98%, with only 98 cases over the year.
Mohamed Lyoubi warns that “we must do everything possible to get out” of the current situation “as quickly as possible”, by reducing the infection rate from 95, especially since “the epidemic will not give us time to respite”. Updated in January 2025, the supervisory ministry’s Measles Epidemic Surveillance and Response Manual also informs that “all regions, provinces and prefectures are now affected and must act accordingly”.
It is thus a mobilization “in terms of epidemiological surveillance, investigation and organization of care, vaccination response and social mobilization”. In this sense, “all regional public health emergency operations centers (CROUSP) and all provincial rapid intervention teams must be activated and on alert”, in addition to holding weekly meetings, with “close coordination with local authorities and other stakeholders”.
