The Deputy Minister of Health reviews the experience of improving population characteristics at the European Parliamentarians Forum
Dr. Abla Al-Alfi, Deputy Minister of Health and Population, reviewed the Egyptian experience in shifting the population file from focusing on “number” To improve “population characteristics”, through the state adopting a scientific methodology based on enhancing the role of composite population indicators in drawing the human development map at the level of the governorates of the Republic.
This came during her participation in the European Parliamentarians Forum (ICFP Parliamentarians Forum), held on the sidelines of the activities of the International Conference on Family Planning 2025 in Colombia.
The Deputy Minister of Health confirmed that the measures and policies taken by the Egyptian state to control population growth and reduce the overall fertility rate, It resulted in a decrease in the rate, noting that this decrease exceeded expectations, as it was achieved at a faster rate than estimates that expected this level to be reached in 2027, which reflects the success of population policies in achieving their goals three years before the planned date.
Alfi indicated that the urgent plan for population and development (2025 – 2027) contributed to enhancing mothers’ awareness of birth spacing periods, as a recent survey showed that 82% of women prefer The spacing between births is from 3 to 5 years, compared to only 55% in the Egyptian Household Survey for the year 2021, which represents a qualitative gain in the Egyptian family’s awareness of reproductive health.
The Deputy Minister reviewed the work axes of the urgent plan that is based on improving the population characteristics in “red areas”, which are areas with composite population indicators of less than 50%, which include 73 areas in which 25% live. Of the population, explaining that the plan works to focus development efforts in these areas until the end of 2027, in parallel with the implementation of the National Population and Development Strategy at the republic level to achieve the desired goals.
She stressed that the urgent plan relied on basic pillars, most notably absolute decentralization to encourage concerned parties to take effective field action, and develop primary health care services in various governorates, in addition to governance of the population file through digital transformation to accurately follow indicators, as well as restructuring the National Population Council to enhance its role in Field coordination.
She added that the results of implementing the plan since its launch at the beginning of this year showed the transformation of 31 red areas into yellow areas, with population indicators ranging between 50% and 70%, stressing that these encouraging results push towards continuing work to generalize the experience and expand its scope during the coming period.
The Deputy Minister explained that the efforts also included improving women’s education, empowering them in the labor market, combating child marriage, and stopping students dropping out of education, as well as providing An integrated package of family planning methods under the slogan “No to Wasted Opportunities”, with the aim of eliminating unmet needs for methods and family planning.
At the conclusion of her speech, Dr. Abla Alfi stressed that the Egyptian experience based on the urgent plan, the focus on red areas, and the shift in the awareness of families and society, represents a practical model for the success of population policies in achieving qualitative leaps within a short period of time, which contributes to achieving sustainable development. Overall.
