The facts can’t be disputed: according to the latest figures released by the Demographic and Health Survey, the state of general health and health care, in Egypt is alarming. The figures show that despite the efforts to ameliorate the health situation, the future of Egyptians’ health remains in jeopardy unless much more is done.
The life expectancy of Egyptians has increased so that, at the current rate, the proportion of the population above 65 is expected to rise to 23 percent in 2050, up from the current 6 per cent. At the same time, infant mortality rates have markedly declined from 73 out of each 1,000 infants in 1990 to 25 in 2008. As for newborn fatalities, the ratio decreased from 39 to 16 per 1,000 over the same period.
One of the areas that have seen huge improvement is vaccination. In 2008, 92 per cent of children received vaccines against all the major diseases.
Accurate and reliable
The survey results were revealed at a meeting led by Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali who stressed the relevance of accurate and reliable data on health and health care if the situation in Egypt is to improve. Dr Fatam al-Zanati, who supervised the work for the survey, offered a detailed analysis of the results and indicated that the purpose of the process was to recognise the defects and attempt to treat them.
The survey traced a remarkable change in terms of the pattern of illness in Egypt especially regarding chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Much had to do with Egyptian malpractices such as excessive fatty food intake and smoking, in addition to the fact that the rise in life expectancy has resulted in an increase in illnesses initiated or augmented by older age. The ratio of females with high blood pressure is 13 per cent against 11 per cent for males.
Hepatitis C virus is now so widespread that the number of patients has reached nine million. The government’s decision to ban doctors from performing female gentile mutilation did not end the practice but passed it into the hands of midwives; and the rate of birth by Caesarean section is as high as 28 per cent in rural areas and 40 per cent in urban areas
Reproductive health
The survey showed a notable rise in the use of contraceptives did not result in a remarkable decline in terms of birth rates. The average in 2008 was 3 babies per woman, down from 5.3 babies in 1980. In case of educated women, however, the ratio was 2.7 babies, while it was 3.4 in rural areas.
The rise in marriage age led to a decrease in the number of babies. It was found that 80 per cent of women gave birth under medical supervision, 99 per cent of them under a doctor.
The use of contraceptives increased from 28 per cent in 1980 to 60 per cent in 2008. Yet birth rates are still notably high in Upper Egypt.
Child health
The survey showed that 29 per cent of Egyptian children from one to four suffered from malnutrition, which affected their growth. The condition of 7 per cent of these was severe. As for teenagers, 5 and 6 per cent of boys and girls respectively were underweight. However, the situation was reversed among women aged 15 to 56, with 28 per cent overweight and 40 per 1000 clinically obese.
Avian flu
It emerged that 99 per cent of those covered by the survey had heard about bird flu. Following the outbreak of the disease, the practice of rearing birds at home declined by 20 per cent, a development that signified people’s growing awareness of the threat posed by avian flu. Among rural women who reared birds, 50 per cent said that they kept them in a closed place in the home, against 34 per cent who reared the birds somewhere outside the living quarters.
Female genital mutilation
Some 91 per cent of females aged 15 to 49 had been circumcised. But there are indications, the survey observed, that the malpractice is expected to decline over the coming two decades. It was found that the support among women for female gentile mutilation had decreased from 82 per cent in 1995 to 63 per cent in 2008. Unfortunately, the Health Ministry’s decision to ban the performance of female circumcision failed to put an end to the practice; it merely forced people to resort to midwives and nurses instead of doctors in this respect.
Malnutrition
Experts and researchers made a number of comments. They remarked that the decline in rearing poultry at home may augment child malnutrition since domestic poultry was in most cases the only affordable source of animal protein among poor families, poverty being the main factor behind malnutrition. The rising percentage of malnutrition was expected to have serious repercussions on the future of Egypt.