POLITICS, DIPLOMACY AND SOCIAL AND HUMAN AFFAIRS

Shortage of Medical Specialists in Morocco

Morocco is to establish two medical schools in Fes and Marrakech to deal with the shortage of medical specialists. There is a deficit of some 850 medical specialists in Morocco according to health minister Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, who announced the establishment of the two med schools to be affiliated to the local hospital systems.

Morocco has 3,737 specialists, of whom 2,530 practice in hospitals and the remaining ones working in urban health centers.

The number of new specialists entering the health sector each year averaged 150, with the exception of 2003, with that number likely to double.
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Human Issues
Poll Results Show Troubling Sentiments on Immigration Among Moroccans

The Moroccan NGO "Pateras de la Vie" conducted a survey, which results point to troubling trends in immigration issues. The poll found that as many as 64% of the Moroccans wish to immigrate and move to Spain. The NGO has launched a campaign to inform Moroccans of the risks and dangers of illegal immigration and the sea crossing from Morocco to Spain.
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Morocco-politics
Five Moroccan Political Parties Announce New Leftwing Alliance

(AFP) - Five political parties in Morocco have decided to join forces and set up a "leftwing hub" to counter-balance the current government, the leader of one of the movements, Mohamed Sassi reported recently.

The new grouping will include Sassi's Loyalty to Democracy party, the Unified Socialist Left (GSU), Annahj Addimocrati (Democratic Way), the Party of the Socialist Vanguard (PADS), and the Itihadi National Congress (CNI), he said. In the near future, the five parties will publish a joint political platform, Sassi told AFP.

Three of these movements -- the PADS, CNI and Sassi's Loyalty to Democracy -- are break-aways from the ruling Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), the biggest party in the coalition goverment.
Annahj Addimocrati and the GSU were part of Morocco's Marxist movement in the 1970s.

Sassi stressed that the alliance-in-the-making was a "serious construction project" and the "realisation of a dream."

Politically, the north African kingdom is "not going through a democratic transition", he said.
"What we're experiencing is a time of gestation which has several possible outcomes ... There's no political force in Morocco to provide a balance to the political power in place, which decides what it wants quite heedlessly," Sassi said. Once formed, the new alliance will keep its distance from the government, he added.

Morocco currently has a six-party coalition government under a constitutional monarchy. In 1996, Moroccans approved by referendum a constitutional reform which made provisions for the creation of a bicameral system, with the lower house elected for five years by universal suffrage and the upper house by indirect suffrage for nine years.
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Population Census
Large Resources for the 2004 Morocco Census

Census officials will get important resources to size the Moroccan population and measure the size of the country's housing in 2004. Some 67,000 agents will contribute to the census effort using 3,500 vehicles and some 300 tons of paper.
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FastFact:
HIV/AIDS in Morocco

The number of individuals with AIDS/HIV in Morocco is estimated to be between 13,000 and 16,000, as reported by the healthcare community to government authorities. Morocco has 24 centers monitoring and testing centers across the country.
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Healthcare
Algeria to Scrap Bacterial Meningitis Inoculation Program

The Algeria government has decided to scrap its anti-bacterial meningitis program. "Algeria cannot afford to introduce the vaccine against meningitis in its upcoming health calendar due to the excessive cost and the existence of other health priorities," according to a statement made by Dr. Zebboudj to the Algerian news agency. Dr. Zebboudj heads the meningitis program at the Algerian health ministry. Dr. Zebboudj says the cost of importing a single dose is AD 1,000.

There have been a few cases of meningitis since 1998, but they were mostly of viral origin. However, health authorities allow pilgrims to the Hajj in Mecca to undergo inoculation while it is required for the military.

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