In the wake of the death of an 11 year old girl, the Egyptian government has once again changed its policy on female genital mutilation, banning any government affiliated medical staff from performing female circumcision.

Egyptian health policy has shifted from trying to control the practice by keeping it under government supervision towards more outright condemnation. In October 1995 health minister Ismail Sallam banned female circumcision from being carried out in state hospitals, a direct reversal of a decree enacted in 1994 that asked state hospitals to set aside one day a week for carrying out the procedure. The further restriction was announced by Sallam on 17 July and follows an …