Hassan I University and the Higher Institute of Health Sciences of Settat, in collaboration with Indiana State University (USA), organised, from 23 to 25 June in Marrakech, the first International Symposium on education and research strategies to reduce infant mortality in Morocco. This event, whose opening ceremony was presided over by Soumia Benkhaldoune, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Executive Training, was supervised by American and Moroccan professors and researchers and saw the participation of more than a hundred beneficiaries, 80% of whom were women, from several cities in the Kingdom. "National strategies and surveillance systems in the reduction of infant mortality in Morocco", "The causes of maternal and neonatal mortality", and "Nursing care in maternal, infant and obstetric health", are all themes addressed during the Symposium.

The infant mortality rate is a determining indicator of a nation's health map. It is calculated as the number of deaths per 1,000 live births. Morocco has made considerable progress in reducing deaths among mothers and children. This is thanks to the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH). Indeed, infant mortality in Morocco has gone from 6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 2.1 per 1,000 in 2012. In her speech, Soumia Benkhaldoune indicated that Morocco has made considerable progress in reducing deaths among mothers and children, and that the government is working tirelessly to reduce the infant mortality rate in Morocco, which stands at 112 deaths per 100,000 live births.