Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent deaths from heart disease in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
As part of DFID’s commitment to achieving Global Goal 3 – ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all – we support developing countries to strengthen their health systems.
The World Health Organisation estimates that Non Communicable Diseases, including cardiovascular disease, will result in cumulative economic losses of US$7 trillion over the next 15 years in low- and middle-income countries.
The UK provides specific support to tackling deaths from heart disease, including through our Health Partnerships Scheme helping to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Ethiopia. DFID does not provide any direct support for provision of genetic testing for heart disease in developing countries.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to improve the availability of genetic testing for heart disease in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
As part of DFID’s commitment to achieving Global Goal 3 – ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all – we support developing countries to strengthen their health systems.
The World Health Organisation estimates that Non Communicable Diseases, including cardiovascular disease, will result in cumulative economic losses of US$7 trillion over the next 15 years in low- and middle-income countries.
The UK provides specific support to tackling deaths from heart disease, including through our Health Partnerships Scheme helping to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Ethiopia. DFID does not provide any direct support for provision of genetic testing for heart disease in developing countries.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of heart disease rates on (a) life expectancy and (b) economic growth in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
As part of DFID’s commitment to achieving Global Goal 3 – ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all – we support developing countries to strengthen their health systems.
The World Health Organisation estimates that Non Communicable Diseases, including cardiovascular disease, will result in cumulative economic losses of US$7 trillion over the next 15 years in low- and middle-income countries.
The UK provides specific support to tackling deaths from heart disease, including through our Health Partnerships Scheme helping to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Ethiopia. DFID does not provide any direct support for provision of genetic testing for heart disease in developing countries.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations she has received on trends in life expectancy in Syria; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Syria is the world’s biggest and most urgent humanitarian crisis. 13.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and four in five Syrians live in poverty. The UN estimates that since the crisis began life expectancy among Syrians has dropped by more than 20 years, from 79.5 years to 55.7 years. Significant contributory factors include death rates due to the conflict (including increased death rates among younger people); destruction of health care facilities and difficulties in delivering routine childhood vaccinations; and an increase in poverty.
The UK is at the forefront of the response to the crisis. UK support is reaching hundreds of thousands of people affected by it in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. The UK has pledged over £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. We are also mobilising the international community. We co-hosted the “Supporting Syria and the Region” conference in London on 4 February, which secured pledges of more than $12 billion, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Of this, over $6 billion was pledged for support in 2016 and a further $6.1 billion for the coming years until 2020. This money will save lives, give hope and give people a chance for the future
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support women's reproductive healthcare in Liberia.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Since 2008 DFID has been supporting the Government of Liberia to deliver health services and has committed over £28m. This includes an additional £6m funding announced at the UN conference on post-Ebola recovery in July 2015.
Roughly half of our funding is specifically targeted towards health services for women and children, including during pregnancy and for childbirth, and to purchase drugs including contraceptives and other family planning products.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that protective clothing is provided to hospital workers treating victims of Ebola in (a) Sierra Leone and (b) Liberia.
Answered by Justine Greening
There are currently no active cases in either of the countries. However, DFID continues to work closely with the Government of Sierra Leone and international partners to maintain and develop the systems, structures and capabilities needed to respond effectively should they be needed. Measures to protect healthcare workers and other frontline responders from infection are an important element of this preparedness. DFID has provided Personal Protective Equipment compliant with WHO standards to all of our UK funded facilities throughout this epidemic via our dedicated supply chain.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department takes to ensure that overseas development aid spent via the EU is used for its intended purposes.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID officials sit on the management committees of the European Development Fund (EDF) and the Development Cooperation Instrument where they scrutinise EU programming to ensure it is well placed to achieve its development aims. DFID country offices also regularly engage with the EU delegations in-country on their development programming. DFID also uses EU audit systems (including the European Court of Auditors’ annual report which is scrutinised by Parliament) to dissect EU spend.
The UK has strongly pushed for the introduction of a results framework and the Commission has now published its new framework, providing transparency about what is being achieved and accountability for the money spent. The first publication of results is expected by the end of 2015. The Results Framework has a similar design to that of DFID and other international donors – and will allow more rigorous scrutiny. The UK also secured significant improvements in the Implementing Regulations of EDF 11 which has improved the quality of programme documents and the availability of results data, which will feed into the new results framework. DFID continues to push for more effective programming, monitoring and evaluation, as well as enhanced transparency.