The Moroccan Minister of Health and Social Protection, Amine Tehraoui, inaugurated the new regional hospital in Tarfaya and an urban health center in Laayoune on Thursday, as part of the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Green March and the national healthcare system reform.
According to a ministry statement sent to APA, these facilities aim to strengthen medical services in the southern provinces and ensure equitable access to care. The new regional hospital in Tarfaya, built on eight hectares at a cost of 60 million dirhams (approximately €5.4 million), has a capacity of 70 beds and employs 102 healthcare professionals, including 13 doctors and 60 nurses.
It will serve an estimated population of over 16,000.
The Taawoun urban health centre in Laâyoune will provide medical services to approximately 20,000 residents. It includes emergency, maternity, general consultation, and chronic disease management units.
Equipped with a computerised medical record system, it aims to improve the quality and continuity of care, the ministry stated.
Minister Tehraoui also visited the Tah rural health centre in the Tarfaya province, which was recently modernised at a cost of 2.6 million dirhams (approximately €235,000).
This centre serves nearly 900 people and now benefits from new equipment, four additional nurses, and a digital medical monitoring system. These initiatives are part of the national strategy for universal health coverage and the expansion of social protection.
These openings come amid growing strain on the Moroccan healthcare system. For several months, protests have been taking place in various cities across the kingdom following maternal deaths at the Hassan II Regional Hospital in Agadir, which serves a large part of the south.
Protesters are denouncing staff shortages, inadequate equipment, and the deteriorating state of hospital infrastructure.
The authorities maintain that current new public investments and budget allocations aim to address these regional disparities and restore public trust in the healthcare system.
It remains to be seen whether these new facilities will, in the medium term, meet the needs of a
population long marginalised in terms of healthcare.
MK/ac/fss/as/APA