Mins. Of Health, Endowments team up on addressing overpopulation

CAIRO – 19 July 2018: Overpopulation is considered Egypt’s top threat as it continues to devour the state’s resources; thus leading to grave increases in poverty rates.

As part of the state’s ongoing bids to curb overpopulation, ministries of health and endowments fused tanks under a unified agreement that aims at raising awareness on the overriding threat.

In a press conference held on Wednesday, Hala Zayed, minister of health and population, said that the ministry is continuously working to address the issue of overpopulation by generating awareness campaigns and introducing methods for family planning.

She further stressed the important role that the Endowments Ministry plays in taking down the levels of overpopulation in the Egyptian society, confirming the need to join forces to address the dangerous phenomenon medically, socially and religiously.

“The ministry will dispatch special medical convoys in Egypt’s different governorates to raise awareness about overpopulation. The convoy will include preachers and imams that will directly interact with people that still think that birth control practices are religiously forbidden,” she added.

For his part, Minister of Awqaf (Endowments), Moukhtar Gumaa, said that the medical convoys will be taking place over the next couple of weeks.

He stressed that birth control has become necessary and not optional, confirming that family planning strategies were practiced during the lifetime of prophet Muhammed, who instructed his companions to opt for the pull out methods for the benefit of the family and the whole community.

In preparation of the awareness convoys, a number of imams and preachers are scheduled to attend the specialized training program prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Population to tackle some issues related to the population and family issues, from July 17 to 19.

"We must have a solution to the problem of the growing population rates, given that it is considered to be Egypt’s second biggest problem after terrorism," said Goma’a.

He pointed out that population increases by 2.5 million annually, which entails the establishment of 2,500 new schools and 50 hospitals each year alongside other infrastructure projects.

Egypt's births reach 2.55M in 2017, rate decline recorded: CAPMAS

CAIRO - 7 June 2018: Egypt's number of births reached 2.55 million in 2017, with 1.288 million in urban areas, and 1.264 million in rural areas, according to a recent report by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has repeatedly spoken on the problem of population growth, describing it as a challenge that is as critical as terrorism, a challenge that deters any development.
Earlier in May, The Ministry of Social Solidarity officially launched a family planning campaign under the slogan “Two is enough”, aiming to control the dangerously growing population.

The campaign aims to reduce the birth rate to 2.4, targeting rural areas where many view large families as a source of economic strength and resist birth control, believing that it is un-Islamic.