With 6.5 million Moroccans experiencing mental health disorders and an estimated 85% receiving none of the care they need, the government’s new Mental Health Plan 2030 is attempting to expand a public system that remains inaccessible to much of the population.
Unveiled Thursday by Health and Social Protection Minister Amine Tahraoui, the plan commits nearly 4 billion dirhams to additional hospitals, beds and specialized staff. Its larger ambition, however, is to change where mental health treatment begins by making care available through local health centers rather than primarily through specialist hospitals.
For many patients, particularly those outside major cities, the current system offers few practical options. Public specialists are scarce, services are unevenly distributed and private treatment is often unaffordable, which helps explain why such a large share of people experiencing mental health problems remain outside the care system.
Under the new model, primary healthcare centers would identify disorders earlier, offer basic treatment and refer patients requiring specialist intervention. If implemented properly, the change could allow people to receive help before their condition deteriorates into a crisis requiring hospitalization.
Between routine appointments and psychiatric admission, the government also sees a role for intermediate facilities providing rehabilitation, monitoring and continued support. Only four such facilities currently operate, but the ministry wants 24 in place by 2030.
Hospital capacity would expand at the same time. Morocco’s 2,466 psychiatric beds would rise to about 4,728, an increase of nearly 92%, while the number of specialist hospitals would grow from 10 to 17. The ministry says the resulting network should provide mental health services across all 12 regions.
Buildings and beds, though, cannot resolve the shortage without the people required to operate them. That is where the plan makes its most striking promise: increasing the number of psychologists employed by the public sector from 32 to 786 in less than four years.
Alongside that expansion, annual training capacity would rise from 36 to 124 psychiatrists and from 490 to 750 nurses specializing in mental health. A new legal framework would regulate psychologists’ qualifications, professional responsibilities and permitted areas of practice.
Earlier ministry figures illustrate the scale of the staffing problem. In 2025, Morocco’s public system employed 319 psychiatrists, 62 child psychiatrists and about 1,700 specialized mental health nurses. Only 123 new funded positions were allocated during 2024 and 2025, including 34 for psychiatrists and 89 for nurses.
Simply increasing university and training places will therefore not guarantee that the announced professionals reach public facilities. Meeting the targets will also require funded jobs, competitive working conditions and a deployment policy capable of attracting specialists to underserved provinces.
Children and young people, who account for 2 million of the people identified by the ministry, are supposed to receive particular attention. The plan links early detection with treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration, suggesting that schools, families, healthcare providers and social services will need to work together rather than address each case separately.
Prepared with support from the World Health Organization and contributions from 13 government departments, the plan contains 86 measures organized around three strategic pillars and four supporting conditions. The announcement, however, did not specify the annual spending schedule, location of the promised facilities or timetable for recruitment.
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