Egypt's population juggernaut approaches 100 million mark

Ragab Gamal’s very pregnant wife is due to deliver their third child later this month. Throughout her pregnancy, she had seen a gynaecologist only once. “Too expensive! The doctor’s visit cost us 150 pounds [about Dh37],” said Mr Gamal, a street sweeper who supplements his monthly 1,200-pound income by working as a guard at an unused apartment block in Cairo’s middle-class Abdeen district. “She will deliver our baby wherever God chooses for her to do so,” said Mr Gamal, wearing the yellow uniform of the private company that hired him two-and-a-half years ago. Mr Gamal, his wife and two children – Ziad 6, and Gamal 2 – live in the building’s basement, occupying a space without doors or...