Peter van de Graaf presented Choice to some 100 female students at Sohag University, followed by a lively discussion. Overall outcome was that most students considered Choice excellent contraception for themselves and Egypt in general, as we have found elsewhere. We must reach the poor, whose needs are highest because of their large families, leading to rapid population increase in Egypt. For this Choice will need social workers for outreach, and, most important, Choice needs to be affordable.

With regard to cultural issues: the family planning decisions are not an individual decision, but take place within the (extended) family, and because sterilization is religiously contentious it should not be labelled “reversible sterilization”.

Thanks a bundle to Sohag University, Laila El-Sayed & my brother in law Samir Khalifa for making this extraordinary and interesting session possible.