Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps her Department is taking to promote the Government's trade for development programme.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The UK remains a world leader in trade for development. We are prioritising our trading partners for the future, for example through our commitments on gender, the new Commonwealth Standards Network and our ambition for the UK to be the largest G7 investor in Africa by 2022.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on programmes tackling malaria in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID contributes to the global effort to tackle malaria through bilateral programmes in countries, research, multilateral funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Health Organisation (WHO), and through strengthening health systems in malaria affected countries.
The total estimated UK spend on malaria was £332 million in 2015/16, £499 million in 2016/17 and £481 million in 2017/18. All direct bilateral malaria spend and relevant multilateral contributions are available in Statistics on International Development. DFID is currently the second largest global funder of the effort against malaria and will remain a leading global donor in the future.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on programmes tackling Neglected Tropical Diseases in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Estimated UK spend on programmes tackling neglected tropical diseases was £48 million in 2015/16, £60 million in 2016/17 and £73 million in 2017/18. The figures include expenditure on programmes to prevent or treat neglected tropical diseases and funding for research.
In 2017, UK funded programmes delivered over 144 million treatments for neglected tropical diseases.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking ensure progress made by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is sustained after polio funding is withdrawn in countries transitioning away from support in 2019.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has successfully led global efforts that have reduced Wild Polio Virus cases by more than 99% since its inception in 1988. The UK has played an important role in this process and UK support to GPEI will mean up to 45 million children can be vaccinated against polio each year until 2020.
It is a key priority for the UK that polio-funded assets continue to ensure strong health systems after the world has been declared polio-free, when GPEI will cease to exist. Governments and key partners must take responsibility for ensuring the assets of the polio programme are not lost and countries remain polio-free. The UK expects the World Health Organisation (WHO) to take a leading role in ensuring a robust and coordinated response and part of the UK’s funding to WHO is conditional on this being met.
The UK has been instrumental in ensuring a coherent strategy be developed and implemented that will support countries as they transition from GPEI support. We will continue to work with WHO and other key polio partners to ensure this is fully actioned and well coordinated.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what contribution her Department plans to make to the voluntary national review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK enjoys enormous respect and influence on development issues, and was at the forefront of negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs provide a framework to tackle the most pressing global challenges of our time – extreme poverty and disease, global instability and conflict, mass migration, climate change and gender inequality – challenges that are at the core of DFID’s work.
As such, DFID holds policy oversight for the SDGs, and we are working closely with the Cabinet Office and other Government Departments to develop our plans for the UK’s Voluntary National Review. We will ensure that the review takes account of the UK’s domestic and international contributions to this global agenda and will consult a wide range of stakeholders.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, given the UK Government’s recent recommitment to defeating malaria, if her Department will increase investment in community-based primary healthcare programmes in remote, rural communities.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID supports low income countries to make faster progress towards universal health coverage, with a particular focus on improving access to good quality primary care in poorer, very often remote areas. This support to strengthening health systems helps to ensure that countries are better able to prevent, detect and treat all causes of ill health, including malaria.