OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH IN MOROCCO: ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Background
Despite the importance of occupational health, it seems to face several obstacles.
Objective
Take stock of occupational health in Morocco by shedding light on the main issues and highlighting recommendations in order to identify some avenues for improvement.
Methods
This is a descriptive cross-sectional observational study conducted among Moroccan occupational physicians using an online self-questionnaire. The analysis was descriptive.
Results
58.1% of physicians worked in the private sector, 69.76% practiced occupational medicine (OM) alongside healthcare medicine, 78.6% practiced OM part-time, and 21.4% full-time. 65.9% of physicians were not satisfied with their remuneration and 66.7% were professionally dissatisfied. 52.40% of physicians thought that OM is improving very slowly in Morocco and 90.5% noted that the concept of “OM” is generally not well assimilated by Moroccan employees and employers. The doctors found that the issues concerning occupational health in Morocco are linked in particular to the legal framework, the organization, and the OM practice including the status of the occupational physicians and to low awareness.
Conclusion
Need to undertake reform of the occupational health and safety system and promote occupational medicine.
Keywords: Occupational medicine; OHS; occupational physician, prevention, legislation; issues
