Monday 12/May/2025 – 04:04 PM
Dr. Abla Al -Alfi, Deputy Minister of Health and Population, revealed shocking figures related to the conditions of nutrition in Egypt, stressing that about 40% of citizens suffer from one of the forms of malnutrition, which carries the state’s annual financial burdens of 20 billion pounds.
Health: 11% of Egyptians suffer from obesity
Al -Alfi explained, during her speech at the launching of the urgent population plan, that the dwarfing rates between children amounted to 13%, while 43% of anemia and 11% of obesity suffer, noting that these indicators are among the most prominent challenges facing the state in the file of improving population characteristics.
She added that the Ministry of Health has developed a plan to reduce the dwarfing rates by 25% every three years, through directed feeding programs, improving the quality of primary care services, and expanding societal awareness, especially in the areas most in need.
The Deputy Minister pointed out that Matrouh Governorate is one of the most prominent areas affected by environmental factors that affect public health, as the percentage of the population who depends on current water does not exceed 17%, while the majority depends on well water, which reflects negatively on health and nutrition.
She also indicated that the percentage of women’s participation in the labor market in the red regions – the areas that record population indicators less than 50% – amounted to about 61%, explaining that the motives of this percentage are related to fear of losing support and dignity more than their association with real economic empowerment.
Al -Alfi emphasized that the ministry is working in partnership with 37 government agencies, civil society and a private sector within an ambitious population plan aimed at improving population indicators at the level of the Republic, and reaching Egypt free of red and yellow areas by 2027, with 90% of the initial care units covered with qualified advice rooms and equipped with trained cadres.
