فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
The crisis of essential drug shortages continues to cast a heavy shadow over Morocco’s healthcare system, as concerns grow among patients—especially those with chronic illnesses—who face daily struggles to obtain vital treatments that are a matter of life and death for them.
Despite repeated calls and warnings directed at the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, both through parliament and civil and human rights organizations, the field reality reveals the ongoing shortage of hundreds of essential medicines, with no signs of a near solution to restore reassurance to patients and their families.
In this context, the Moroccan Consumer Rights Association revealed alarming data indicating that more than 600 medicine types are continuously out of stock, including critical drugs for diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, neurological conditions, and even some cancer treatments.
The association confirmed receiving multiple complaints from citizens across various regions of the kingdom, reporting that they are forced to visit pharmacies daily without success—painting a picture of the fragility of the pharmaceutical system and raising serious questions about the effectiveness of public policies in this area.
The association strongly condemned this situation, describing it as a “direct threat to the patient’s right to treatment,” holding full responsibility to the overseeing authorities, primarily the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, due to shortcomings in monitoring, proactive planning, and failure to establish effective pharmaceutical vigilance mechanisms.
It called for a transparent and independent investigation into the causes of these recurring shortages and for holding accountable any party proven to be involved in drug hoarding or manipulation of distribution. The association stressed that the crisis is no longer temporary but threatens public trust in the entire healthcare system.
The association also urged the establishment of a national pharmaceutical vigilance system that allows immediate reporting of shortages and timely provision of safe and effective alternatives, alongside the creation of a strategic stockpile of essential medicines under state supervision to prevent recurring crises.
Furthermore, the association appealed to pharmaceutical companies and distributors to assume their ethical and professional responsibilities, warning against exploiting the situation to gain profits at the expense of citizens’ health, whether by artificially creating scarcity or manipulating supply chains.
The association emphasized that medicine is not an ordinary commercial commodity but an integral part of national health security. Any negligence in its provision constitutes a direct violation of the right to life and signals severe social and humanitarian consequences, especially for vulnerable and needy groups.
