Morocco: King Chairs Signing Ceremony of Agreement on Deployment of Connected Mobile Medical Units in Rural Areas

King Mohammed VI chaired the signing of a deal to make available mobile medical units to ease the access of people in rural areas to health services.

The deal was signed by Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation, health ministry and the company MEDIOT Technology as part of a drive to improve health services offered to Moroccans in hard-to-reach regions.

The initiative, which involves the deployment of mobile units equipped with telehealth tools, came in implementation of Royal directives to enhance human development by acting on health access in rural areas, Morocco’s news agency reported.

Each mobile unit includes a general practitioner, two nurses and an administrative assistant, who will serve in underserved rural areas. The units are equipped with the latest biomedical equipment enabling face-to-face general medical consultations. Specialized checks will be carried out through a telehealth tool connected to a platform involving specialists in gynecology-obstetrics, pediatrics, endocrinology, dermatology, ENT, cardiology and pulmonology.

At a first stage- to cost 180 million dirhams (18 million dollars), 50 mobile units will be deployed in 40 provinces across the country with the participation of 100 specialist physicians through the telehealth platform and 50 general doctors, 100 nurses and 100 assistants.

Morocco has increased its health budget by 9% to 30.7 billion dirhams ($3 billion) as it seeks to upgrade the sector in tandem with the generalization of mandatory health insurance. Next year, the government plans to create 5500 new jobs in the health sector as it has launched a series of new hospitals and university hospitals across the country to meet the rising demand on health services.

After the September 8 earthquake that hit vast rural areas in the High Atlas mountains, Morocco’s army deployed four military hospitals offering urgent surgeries and medical care to the victims.