Egyptian Premier Mostafa Madbouly has considered the population growth the greatest challenge faced by the state, stressing that its control has become a national security issue.

He held more than one party and the whole community responsible for handling this phenomenon.

According to Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the country’s population has amounted to 99.8 million in January.

In a statement on Friday, the Egyptian government announced holding a meeting to follow up on “the family planning efforts undertaken by the state at the level of the republic .”

The meeting was attended by ministers of investment and international cooperation, health and population, and social solidarity.

Madbouly called for “raising societal awareness on population growth, intensifying awareness campaigns by competent authorities, and coordinating with international bodies to work on achieving successes in this major issue.”

“The state is currently taking measures to limit its support for only two children per family,” the Premier noted, explaining that this includes food supply and Takaful and Karama Program (TKP) for newborns, not for those who currently receive support.

“Egypt will launch a program to control overpopulation and family planning,” he announced, demanding ministers concerned to prepare a report including the competencies of each ministry and public or private authority.

This way, he explained, the state carries on with this program in line with its cooperation with relevant international bodies.

Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania al-Mashat affirmed that she will intensify her efforts with all international institutions in this regard.

Mashat expected to receive great support from different parties to achieve progress in controlling the rates of population growth especially that Egypt has earlier cooperated with a number of international parties to address this major issue.

Health Minister Hala Zayed, for her part, announced that a major advertising and awareness campaign will be launched soon.

She said it includes incentives in cooperation with relevant ministries and authorities, such as the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Authority and the Ministry of Social Solidarity.