Egypt launches new population-control strategy

Egypt’s government announced yesterday the launch of a national “family planning” strategy to control the growth of the country’s high population growth rates, the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reportered, quoating the Egyoptian Health Minister, Ahmed Emad Al-Din.

Emad Al-Din added that the country’s “alarming” population growth had prompted the ministry to launch a new national strategy for family planning, which aims at reducing the population growth from 128 million to 112 million people by 2030. This will mark a decrease of 16 million people.

“The new strategy comprises several initiatives that are being implemented by the rural leaders in 18 governorates, including innovative means to raise awareness about the population increase risks,” he said.

The Egypt’s 12,000 rural leaders are currently working under the ministry’s supervision to educate the rural women about health practices and child care services.

“Every five seconds, a new baby is born in Egypt,” the minister pointed iut.

Read:Egypt suffers shortage of contraceptive pills

On Monday, the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, said during an event held in Egypt’s costal city of Alxedandria that the “the population increase represents as serious challenge as countering terrorism.”

During his speech at the event, he called on the Egyptians not to have more than three children.

In May, Sisi announced that his government was mulling a plan to stimulate family planning, calling on the Egyptians to support the state plan in order to reduce the country’s poverty rates.

According to the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt’s total population inside and outside the country exceeded the 100 million people last April.