Health Ministry organizes awareness campaigns in Kafr Al-Sheikh Tuesday

CAIRO – 3 December 2017: Ministry of Health and Population, represented by the National Population Council, is organizing a number of activities to implement the National Strategy for Population 2030 in Kafr Al-Sheikh Governorate.

The activities will commence on December 5 and 6, 2017 under the auspices of Minister of Health and Population Ahmed Emad Eddin Rady and Kafr Al-Sheikh governor Al-Sayed Nasr.

Khaled Megahed, the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health and Population, said that a number of population and development experts, clerics, leaders of the National Population Council and the Ministry of Health will participate in these events. He pointed out that the most prominent problems facing the governorate are high rates of illegal migration among young people, in addition to the high rate of early marriages in a number of governorates.

Tarek Tawfiq, rapporteur of the National Council for Population, said that a number of educational seminars and workshops will be organized for youth of both sexes. There will also be awareness seminars for Muslim preachers and Christian clerics alike to raise awareness on the overpopulation, and the necessity of development as well as combating early marriage and its negative impact on females’ health, education and employment opportunities.

Tawfik pointed out that the negative impacts arising from overpopulation will be addressed from a developmental, social and religious perspective. "Health, demographic and developmental indicators will be presented to the governorate," said Tawfik.

The national strategy, according to Tawfik, seeks to improve the quality of life for all Egyptians by focusing on family planning and reproductive health, fostering young people's health and civic engagement, advancing women’s economic empowerment and strengthening girls’ education.

Tawfik said that of Egypt's current 100 million citizens, 27.1 percent live in urban areas while the rest live in rural areas. He added that 77 percent of the population lives on only five percent of the country's total area, adding that 55.2 percent of the population was dependent on others to provide a decent life for them.

According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in June, Egypt's population hit 100 million – excluding 8 million Egyptian expats. CAPMAS says that the country's current population growth rate is five times that of developed countries and double the rate of other developing countries.