The Moroccan government on Thursday made fresh calls for dialogue with the youth collective GenZ 212, whose members have been staging nationwide protests since late September to demand reforms and a change of government.
"The message has been received," said government spokesman Mustapha Baitas. "The government is working quickly to mobilise resources and address shortfalls."
"We hope the other side will come forward so that we can listen to their proposals and work on this issue together," he added, noting that authorities were "accelerating projects", particularly in healthcare.
The group organising the rallies, GenZ 212, has called for larger demonstrations on Thursday, the eve of a highly anticipated annual speech by King Mohammed VI.
The protesters have taken to the streets almost every night over the past weeks, unrest that has rocked the usually stable north African country.
Anger was initially fuelled by the deaths of eight pregnant women at a public hospital in Agadir. But demonstrators have also been calling on the head of government, Aziz Akhannouch, to resign.
In a statement on Thursday, the collective demanded a "crackdown on corruption" and a "radical modernisation of school textbooks".
They also called for a national plan to renovate hospitals, recruit more doctors and healthcare workers, particularly in remote areas, and to raise public health insurance reimbursement rates from 50 percent to 75 percent.
While Morocco's private clinics have expanded rapidly in recent years, public hospitals remain overcrowded and under-resourced.
Health Minister Amine Tehraoui on Tuesday described conditions in the sector as being marked by "chronic deficits".
Tehraoui said reforms have been underway since 2022, including plans to renovate and build 22 hospitals, open two new university medical centres in addition to the country's existing five, and rehabilitate 1,400 health facilities by the end of 2025.
According to official data, more than 10 million Moroccans out of a population of roughly 37 million have free health insurance as part of a gradual rollout of universal coverage launched in 2021.