Morocco and the European Union have closed out the PASS III program supporting the health sector, marking what both sides describe as a new stage in a strategic partnership stretching back to 2002, local media report.
Health and Social Protection Minister Amine Tehraoui and EU Ambassador to Morocco Demetrios Tzantziev presided over the closing ceremony Wednesday in Rabat, reviewing the program’s contributions to Morocco’s health-system reform and reaffirming the partnership’s forward-looking orientation.
Tehraoui underscored the excellence of Morocco-EU health cooperation and said the program, launched in 2020, had supported the structural projects underway to build a more equitable, higher-performing health system closer to citizens. He said the closing of PASS III should mark the start of a new phase of cooperation rather than simply an endpoint, expressing interest in deepening the partnership around modernizing care provision, digitalizing the health system, pharmaceutical sovereignty and strengthening health security, pointing to Morocco’s Deepened Strategic Partnership with the EU and the Mediterranean Pact as favorable frameworks for going further.
The offocial identified digital transformation of health data governance, pharmaceutical and vaccine sovereignty, epidemiological surveillance and crisis preparedness, and health workforce training and mobility as priorities for future cooperation, noting Morocco’s solid industrial base and ambitions in pharmaceutical production.
Tzantziev said both sides must keep building health systems that are more resilient, equitable, innovative and connected, describing investment in health as investment in equality, dignity and social cohesion. The EU official noted that transforming a health system requires governance reform, reliable tools, stronger skills and a long-term vision.
PASS III’s support translated into strengthened hospital quality and accreditation processes, preparation of the health system’s new territorial governance framework, reinforced primary healthcare, consolidated national crisis preparedness and response mechanisms, and an upgraded technical platform at Rabat’s Ibn Sina University Hospital Centre.
Both officials stressed the importance of sustaining the Morocco-EU health and social protection partnership, built on shared expertise, innovation, research and capacity-building in support of the country’s major health-sector reforms.
