Poor conditions in Moroccan mental hospitals

A patient at Mental Hospital Casablanca – Raja Battoui The report of the National Council for Human Rights revealed the current status of the very old mental institutions regarding the building, equipment, and human resources, in addition to the lack of security and services. Morocco will be unable to take in the huge numbers of mental patients which is increasing day by day.
In the report, Idriss El Yazami confirmed that the exploratory mission of the council revealed that the judicial authorities is not doing its role regarding the required monitoring, frequency of visits, the quality of reports and follow-ups. Moreover, when the courts often assign experts, the expert is the only psychiatrist in the region who has previously treated the concerned patient, and this is against the ethics of the profession.
The report showed a gloomy picture of the status of twenty mental institutions. It revealed an imbalance and lack of serious mental health problems in Morocco.
 Yazami recorded what caught the attention of the committee from the National Council for Human Rights that visited the institutions. Mental patients are exempted from criminal liability, as well as legal appeals.
On the other hand, the report showed that equipment is largely insufficient.
 Yazami said that the services within departments of the mental institutions rarely work according to the information system. The treatment is finished in most cases without archiving the file. Moreover, the hygiene for patients and their surroundings is very poor.
The report noted that the high-risk groups in these hospitals because of negligence include women, children and the elderly. On the other hand, Morocco suffers from scarcity in private psychiatric institutions, due to the absence of legal requirements of private clinics. In addition to that, there is a legal emptiness regarding the risks associated with psychiatry.
The council called for forming special committees to study the status of institutions and to find urgent solutions. It wants to allocate a budget and repair deteriorating institutions and adopt a strict mental health policy.