The mental health sector in Morocco suffers from a noticeable shortcoming that requires the concerted efforts of all actors |
© Rezko Abdel Meguid
Morocco suffers from a significant shortage of human resources in the field of mental health, according to the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khaled Ait Taleb, who indicated that official figures show significant prevalence rates of mental and psychological disorders in the Kingdom.
Ait Al-Talib, in an answer to a written question by Parliamentarian Fadwa Mohsen Al-Hayani, about the movement team, stated that mental health is a fundamental problem within the public health problems in our country, noting that mental disorders are characterized by their heavy cost, whether at the social or economic level, and the phenomenon of stigma that leads to discrimination. This limits access to treatment for people with these disorders.
According to the minister’s answer, which was reviewed by SNRTnews, human resources in the field of mental health in the Kingdom are distributed among 343 psychiatrists, 214 psychologists, 16 child psychiatrists, 1,335 psychiatric nurses, 14 social assistants, 64 doctors trained in addiction treatment, and 197 therapists. speech, and 36 psychomotor specialists.
The aforementioned human resources remain insufficient to meet the population’s needs for specialized treatments, according to the government official, who stated that 26 percent of Moroccans suffer from depression during their lifetime, while 9 percent suffer from anxiety disorders, 5.6 percent from mental disorders, and 1 percent from Schizophrenia, according to the results of the 2005 national survey of the population of 15 years and over.
To make up for this shortfall, Ait Taleb said that the ministry’s interests are taking several measures and procedures, including integrating mental health in public hospitals and primary health care institutions, and launching the Mental Health Gap Project (mh-GAP), using the World Health Organization’s guide to enhance the capabilities of professionals Health care providers in non-specialized health institutions, and enabling general practitioners to assess and manage mental, neurological and drug-related disorders at the level of general medical consultations.
The procedures also include organizing the course of treatments for mental and psychiatric medicine, developing a reference guide on good medical practices in the field of mental disorders, and rehabilitating and humanizing current hospitals and psychiatric services by adopting technical standards, including Bershid Psychiatric Hospital, which is currently being reconstructed by adopting these standards. .
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection, according to the same answer, diversifies the therapeutic offer and mental health interventions, by developing a national strategy for the prevention of suicidal behavior, early detection of mental disorders in vulnerable groups, especially among pregnant and lactating women, and renewing the mental health information system and its relevance to the development it knows. the field.
Despite the measures taken, the Minister concluded that the mental health sector suffers from a noticeable shortcoming that requires the concerted efforts of all actors and the injection of more financial resources, as recommended by the World Health Organization. Multisectoral Mental Health.