Stakeholder analysis to improve the national control program of cystic echinococcosis in Morocco

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a major zoonosis in Morocco. Despite a national hydatidosis control programme (NHCP) established in 2005, CE burden is still high nationwide. The aim of this study was to carry out an NHCP stakeholders' analysis to identify weak points and propose improvement strategies. In total, 164 semi-structured interviews were carried out with national and local stakeholder representatives, and one stakeholders' workshop was organized. Classical categories of stakeholder analysis (i.e. involvement, interest, importance, influence, priority, and power) were semi-quantified. Based on these categories, an analytical framework was proposed, by selecting elements from the stakeholder analysis, to structure the assessment around three criteria: measure appropriation, political agency, and socio-technical agency. Besides specific weak points of the NHCP, the analysis highlighted the complexity of implementing a zoonotic disease control programme due to the involvement of many different stakeholders. Finally, this study provides a simplified stakeholder analysis method that could be used to assess other health programmes targeting zoonotic diseases, in Morocco and in similar countries.