Health workforce trends and planning in Morocco: a READ-based systematic document analysis

Morocco faces persistent shortages and unequal distribution of health workers, limiting progress toward universal health coverage and global targets. This study analyzed official data to describe Morocco's health workforce and training pipeline, compare them with international benchmarks, and identify priority gaps for policy. A READ-based document analysis was applied to national strategies, statistical yearbooks, and planning reports from the Ministries of Health and Higher Education, with structured selection, extraction, and validation to ensure systematic synthesis.

In 2023, Morocco had 0.80 physicians and 1.03 nurses or midwives per 1000 population, below reference values of 1.72 and 4.5. Between 2000 and 2023, physician density nearly doubled, and nursing density rose substantially. Training capacity expanded, with enrollment increases of 171% in paramedical programs and 96% in medicine and pharmacy. Growth remains uneven, with physician concentration in urban areas, shortages in remote regions and retention challenges. Beyond expanding training, stronger governance, equitable deployment, and financing are needed to translate supply gains into equitable services. This study provides the first national synthesis using a READ-based approach and establishes a reproducible baseline to guide forecasting, fair distribution, real-time registry development, and governance reforms.