Health in Morocco

According to the United States government, Morocco has inadequate numbers of physicians (0.5 per 1,000 people) and hospital beds (1.0 per 1,000 people) and poor access to water (82 percent of the population) and sanitation (75 percent of the population). The health care system includes 122 hospitals, 2,400 health centers, and 4 university clinics, but they are poorly maintained and lack adequate capacity to meet the demand for medical care. Only 24,000 beds are available for 6 million patients seeking care each year, including 3 million emergency cases. The health budget corresponds to 1.1 percent of gross domestic product and 5.5 percent of the central government budget.[1]

Health status

Diseases

In 2001 the principal causes of mortality in the urban population were circulatory system diseases (20.4 percent); perinatal diseases (9.3 percent); cancer (8.5 percent); endrocrinological, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (7.6 percent); respiratory system diseases (6.9 percent); and infectious and parasitic diseases (4.7 percent).[1]

In 2004 the minister of health announced that the country had eradicated a variety of childhood diseases, specifically diphtheria, polio, tetanus, and malaria, but other diseases continue to pose challenges. According to estimates for 2013, 21,000 people or approximately 0.16 percent of the population between the ages of 15 and 49 was infected with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS).[2]

Obesity

Adolescent girls are at a greater risk of becoming obese.[3]

Obesity is linked to a greater availability of food, particularly from the West, and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle in urban areas. A woman who has a low level of schooling or no education in urban areas is significantly more likely to be obese. She, along with the general public, are not aware of the medical conditions that result from obesity. Rather, female fatness is embraced as it "is viewed as a sign of social status and is a cultural symbol of beauty, fertility, and prosperity".[3] Being thin is a sign of sickness or poverty.[4]

Maternal and Child Health Care

The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Morocco is 110. This is compared with 124 in 2008 and 383.8 in 1990. The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000 births is 39 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality is 54. In Morocco the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 5 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women 1 in 360.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Morocco country profile. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (May 2006). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ↑ Central Intelligence Agency (2011). "CIA World Factbook - HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate". Retrieved 2011.
  3. 1 2 Mokhtar, Najat; et al. (2001). Diet Culture and Obesity in North Africa.
  4. ↑ Rguibi & R Belahsen, M. (2006). Fattening Practices Among Moroccan Saharawi Women.
  5. ↑ "The State Of The World's Midwifery". United Nations Population Fund. Retrieved August 2011.

External links

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