Kingdom
Health Reform: Aziz Akhannouch Chairs a Meeting of the Steering Committee
During this meeting, the primary focus was on monitoring the establishment of the preliminary conditions necessary for the implementation of the eleven GSTs, whose decrees for effective commissioning were adopted by the Council of Government in December 2025.
The Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, chaired a meeting of the steering committee for the reform of the national health system on Wednesday, January 7 in Rabat, dedicated to monitoring the implementation of the various components of this strategic project, which benefits from the Royal High Concern and constitutes one of the pillars of the major structural reforms underway in the Kingdom.
Akhannouch affirmed at the beginning of this meeting that the government continues its total mobilization, with the aim of laying the foundations for an integrated, equitable, and efficient health system, placing the citizen’s health at the heart of its priorities.
The head of the Executive emphasized the paramount importance of the involvement of all stakeholders, at both central and regional levels, to ensure the successful implementation of the Territorial Health Groupings (GST), as a pivotal mechanism to promote the national health system and provide practical and sustainable solutions to the structural constraints facing the sector.
He noted in this regard that the regional dimension constitutes a deep government conviction to strengthen the governance of the health sector and guarantee functional complementarity and institutional harmony between the different health structures within each region.
The Head of Government also called for accelerating the pace of implementation of large-scale health projects, foremost among them the construction projects of University Hospital Centers.
During this meeting, the primary focus was on monitoring the establishment of the preliminary conditions necessary for the implementation of the 11 GSTs, whose decrees for effective commissioning were adopted by the Council of Government in December 2025.
Thus, an examination was conducted of the various organizational and institutional measures capable of enabling the launch of the GSTs, in association with social partners, with the aim of preparing for the holding of the administrative boards of these groupings before effectively moving to the implementation stage.
The GSTs will allow for the development of integrated regional medical programs taking into account territorial specificities. They will also contribute to strengthening and diversifying the supply of health services, improving the organization of the healthcare pathway, which will have a direct impact on the quality of services offered to citizens.
This meeting was also an opportunity to take note of the progress status of the implementation of the plan to standardize the information system of health establishments across the regions of the Kingdom, in addition to monitoring the emergency program for health system reform, based on ten major projects, designed to improve the quality of health services in the short term and restore confidence in public health establishments.
The Committee, on the other hand, examined the progress status of health facility upgrade projects. The two University Hospital Centers in Laâyoune and Rabat are thus expected to be ready during the current year, while work on ten other projects will be completed in February 2026 for an additional capacity of 1430 beds. Work related to ten other projects will be completed at the end of 2026 for an additional capacity of 1637 beds.
Regarding the upgrading of local health centers nationwide, the project completion rate has reached 81%, after the upgrading of 1,130 health centers was completed, with the prospect of finishing work on 1,400 centers by the end of this month.
The second phase of this program will be launched this year, concerning the upgrading of 1,600 local health centers, with the completion of work on 500 centers during this year.
Taking part in this meeting were Abdelouafi Laftit, Minister of the Interior; Amine Tehraoui, Minister of Health and Social Protection; Azzedine El Midaoui, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation; Fouzi Lekjaa, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy and Finance, in charge of the Budget; as well as representatives of the General Secretariat of the Government; and Hassan Boubrik, Director General of the National Social Security Fund.
