Frederika Meijer, UNFPA Representative for Egypt, and Sherine Helmy, CEO of Pharco Pharmaceuticals, signed the protocol.
Following the signing, Minister of Health Hossam Abdel Ghaffar stated that Egypt’s goal is not only to monitor birth rates, but also to offer comprehensive care to all newborns, including health, social, and psychological support.
The protocol involves launching a campaign called A Life Path, which aims to fill gaps in family planning services in Egypt, the health minister revealed.
The health minister said that the initiative will enhance the quality and accessibility of family planning and reproductive health services, improve healthcare provider skills, and increase public awareness among citizens in line with national objectives.
He also announced that Egypt intends to set up numerous mobile medical clinics to serve remote and underserved regions and train 2,000 family planning healthcare providers to expand the scope of their services.
Egypt’s Population Issue
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) reports that Egypt’s population is currently 104.9 million.
Although there has been an increase in family planning services, the population of Egypt rose from 102.8 million to 104.4 million in 2022.
In February, Tarek Tawfik, Head of Egypt’s National Population Council (NPC), projected that the country’s population could reach anywhere from 142 to 157 million by 2050.
Egypt’s National Dialogue Population Issue Committee urged for a framework to control population growth during their meeting on Thursday.
The committee also requested the implementation of the National Population Strategy, which was presented by the Senate in 2022, to enhance family planning and reproductive health services.
Following the dialogue session, CAPMAS reported on Saturday that the use of family planning by married women rose from 58.5 percent in 2014 to 66.4 percent in the past nine years.
Furthermore, the birth rate in Egypt fell from 3.5 in 2014 to 2.8 in 2021.
Government Initiatives
The government has enacted several measures to reduce birth rates.
In March, the government launched an initiative called Osra (family) to offer reproductive healthcare options to young people and provide information to those who wish to engage in family planning voluntarily.
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi initiated the National Project for Developing the Egyptian Family in February 2022, which addresses the health, social, family, and economic aspects of the issue.
In 2021, the health ministry started offering free or reduced-cost family planning services.
In 2020, the two-year Two Is Enough initiative was launched in Egypt to promote smaller family sizes. UNFPA Representative for Egypt, Meijer, and Pharco Pharmaceuticals CEO, Helmy, signed the relevant protocol.
