Aid for family planning in Egypt.

A $5 million credit has been approved by the International Development Association, an affilate of the World Bank, to help finance a population project in Egypt. The project provides for the construction, equipping and furnishing of 22 general health centers, 12 polyclinics, 3 centers for training nursing teachers and 3 centers for in service training. 100 and 50 multipurpose vehicles will be provided to improve mobility of family planning services. Also included are a study on the maintenance of health facilities, 3 evaluation studies of family planning acceptors, an experimental home visiting program to inform and motivate people on family planning, and assistance in the production of health education material useful for family planning information and motivation. Simple demographic facts illustrate the seriousness of the population problem in Egypt. The current population of 35 million will be double by the year 2000 if the present 2.5% annual increase continues. This will put strains on a country whose population density quadrupled during the last century, and which stands to day at 950 persons per square kilometer of habitable land, a density rivalled by only 2 or 3 other countries in the world. The IDA credit will cover about 1/2 of the project's expense. The Egyptian government will finance the local costs.