Healthcare reform; The marathon of the Parliament return

The Minister of Health and Social Protection has his work cut out for him. In addition to the draft framework law on the reform of the health system, Khalid Aït Taleb must have five other pieces of legislation adopted which are in the final phase, such as the one relating to territorial health groupings or the public health service. This is the price to pay to ensure support for the royal project relating to the generalization of social protection. All these projects do not require, as would be the case for a framework law, to be reviewed during a Council of Ministers meeting. In this case, only the Government Council meeting will suffice. However, the Government does not seem to be in a hurry when it comes to the legislative agenda. It will therefore be necessary to wait until the next parliamentary term to be able to start the examination of this draft framework law, because the closing of the spring session of Parliament is scheduled for July 27 but the bureaus of the two Chambers have not scheduled a meeting of the Specialized Committee to launch the debate relating to the proposed legislation. In the meantime, the draft framework law which has just been adopted by the Council of Ministers aims to reinforce the achievements, correct the dysfunctions, and fill in the gaps in order to implement a comprehensive reform of the national healthcare system. It is a question of meeting the aspirations and expectations of the citizens and to restore confidence in the system, according to the presentation note of the draft framework law. For its advocates, the draft framework law aims to improve the status of the human resources working in the health sector through a public health service aimed at stimulating human capital in the public sector. The central idea consists in adopting a salary system based in part on the performance of professional work in addition to the improvement of health training systems.

Goals of the healthcare project

According to Article 2 of the bill, the action of the Government in the field aims to protect the health of the population and to protect it against diseases, epidemics, and against any risk threatening the life of individuals while guaranteeing their life in a healthy environment. To this end, the Government is working to achieve several goals, including facilitating citizens’ access to quality services and guaranteeing a balanced and equitable distribution of the healthcare offering throughout the national territory.

Territorial provision of healthcare services

The other goal relates to the consolidation of the territorial distribution of the supply of care in the public sector, with an improvement of its governance through the creation of health groupings of territories. Also on the menu is the guarantee of sovereignty in terms of medicines and the development of means of monitoring and prevention against risks threatening health. In addition to the implementation of partnership, cooperation, and complementarity mechanisms between the public and private sectors, it will also be necessary to encourage scientific research and innovation in the field of health. Achieving the goals set out in Article 2 above is a national priority and a collective responsibility incumbent on the national Government, local authorities, the private sector, civil society, the various professional bodies, the population, and other actors in the field of health.. 

M.C.