Morocco : 30 years of collaboration between USAID and the Ministry of Health -- a retrospective analysis : STI/HIV/AIDS

For the other three reports, see PN-ACP-900 through PN-ACP-902. Since the first case of AIDS in Morocco was detected in 1986, an estimated 800,000 Moroccans have become HIV-infected. During the early days of the epidemic, the MOH"s main activities focused on procurement and management of medications, which at the time was limited to drugs treating the opportunistic infections characteristic of AIDS patients. MOH prevention messages primarily focused on the most mobile populations and on health care providers. In the early 1990s, the MOH, with assistance from USAID, decided to implement the syndromic approach to STI case management in Morocco in an effort to improve the management of STI cases and control the HIV epidemic. This approach became the official STI treatment strategy and the primary means of HIV prevention in Morocco. Although HIV prevalence in Morocco is low, leading to less USAID funding for HIV prevention activities than for other programmatic areas (e.g., family planning), STI/HIV prevention has been an integral part of Morocco"s reproductive health activities during the last two decades. While the bulk of STI/HIV/AIDS activities have been carried out by the MOH and other donors, USAID has supported this critical area and contributed to the development of the program. (Author abstract, modified)