Morocco: Despite Medical Aid Coverage, Moroccans Voice Concerns About Affordability, Quality of Health Care

11 September 2025
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Wallelign S. Hassen

Almost three-fourths of citizens say they worry "somewhat" or "a lot" about being unable to obtain or afford medical care when they need it.

Key findings

  • Seven in 10 Moroccans (71%) say they have medical aid coverage. o Among those who have medical aid coverage, a majority (56%) rely on national health insurance. And almost nine out of 10 (86%) say they are satisfied with their coverage. o Among those who don't have health insurance, the largest share (23%) say it's because they can't afford it.
  • Almost three-fourths (73%) of citizens say they worry "somewhat" or "a lot" about being unable to obtain or afford medical care when they need it.
  • A plurality (48%) say the government should ensure universal access to adequate health care, even if it means higher taxes. Almost four in 10 citizens (37%) disagree.
  • Among respondents who had contact with a public clinic or hospital during the year preceding the survey, more than half (52%) say they found it difficult to obtain the medical assistance they needed, and 37% say they had to pay a bribe. o Overwhelming majorities say they encountered problems at public health facilities they visited, including long wait times (95%), absent medical staff (85%), unaffordable costs (85%), inadequate medicines or medical supplies (81%), and facilities in poor condition (79%).
  • More than half (54%) of citizens say they or a family member went without medicine or medical treatment at least once during the preceding 12 months.
  • A majority (58%) of Moroccans think the government is doing a poor job of improving basic health services. o Almost six in 10 respondents (58%) say they trust the Ministry of Health "somewhat" or "a lot."
  • hree-fourths (74%) Moroccans say parents should be required to vaccinate their children against infectious diseases such as measles and polio.

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According to the World Health Organization (2025), universal health coverage (UHC) ensures that "all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship." It encompasses services ranging from health promotion and disease prevention to treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.

Morocco has been working toward UHC since 2005, gradually expanding its Mandatory Basic Health Insurance (Assurance Maladie Obligatoire, or AMO) system with the aim of providing subsidised insurance for basic health services for all citizens (Deriak, 2024; Mahdaoui & Kissani, 2023; Chen, 2018).

But despite improvements on many health indicators, implementation of quality care for all continues to be a challenge due to a lack of services in rural areas, a shortage of human resources, inadequate funding, and inefficient resource allocation, among other problems (Halimi, Jawab, & Bouklata, 2025; Mahdaoui & Kissani, 2023). The World Health Organization's (2023) UHC Service Coverage Index, which rates provision of quality services based on 14 indicators of service coverage, gave Morocco a score of 69 out of 100 in 2021, roughly equal to the global average (68) and one of the best ratings in Africa.

This dispatch reports on a special Afrobarometer Round 10 survey module focusing on health care. In Morocco, findings show that while seven in 10 citizens have medical aid coverage, most are worried about being unable to obtain or afford medical care when they need it. Public opinion is divided on whether the government should ensure universal access to adequate health care, even at the cost of higher taxes.

Among respondents who had contact with a public clinic or hospital during the year preceding the survey, a majority say they found it difficult to obtain the medical assistance they needed, and almost four in 10 say they had to pay a bribe or give a gift.

A majority of citizens disapprove of the government's performance on improving basic health services.

Wallelign S. Hassen Wallelign S. Hassen is a researcher at the University of Florida.

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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