Morocco and the United States have launched the STRIDES (Strengthening Infectious Disease Detection Systems) project, backed by a $4 million U.S. funding. The initiative aims to strengthen Morocco’s national capacity to prevent, detect early, report, and respond rapidly to communicable disease outbreaks.
The STRIDES agreement was inked Thursday in Rabat by Moroccan Health Minister Youns Bjijou and U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Duke Buchan III. the U.S. State Department-backed project will help the Kingdom upgrade human and animal health laboratory networks to improve diagnostic capabilities, biosafety, and biosecurity.
The American financial support will also contribute to strengthening further disease surveillance, improving health information systems and advancing emergency preparedness & response. Morocco’s swift response to COVID-19 helped to safe-lives and contain the impact of the pandemic.
In today’s interconnected world, a disease can spread from a remote village to a major city anywhere in the world in as little as 36 hours. To address this challenge, Morocco is building “One Health surveillance framework” linking human medicine, veterinary services, and environmental monitoring to detect health threats before they spread across species. Rather than relying on isolated reporting, the integrated system connects specialized ministries and reference laboratories to share real-time data on zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and climate-linked risks
Furthermore, Between March 2025 and June 2026, the Directorate of Epidemiology and Disease Control (DELM) of Morocco’s Ministry of Health with technical support from Bluesquare, designed a new integrated information system for public health emergency watch, surveillance, preparedness, and response.
