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Written Question
West Africa: Ebola
Monday 19th July 2021

Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - South West Surrey)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on (a) a timeline of the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and (b) how long it took to get that outbreak under control.

Answered by James Duddridge

The UK Government mounted a comprehensive response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, which involved ten departments and four arms' length bodies. More than 1,500 British military personnel, 150 NHS volunteers, 425 Public Health England staff and 250 DFID surge staff worked alongside staff at our High Commission in Freetown and in the UK.

The UK Government also provided 1,500 isolation and treatment beds at six Ebola treatment centres and 70 community care centres across the country. Support also included diagnostic laboratories, safe and dignified burials, assistance for households under quarantine, infection prevention and control, social mobilisation and community engagement. The Government committed more than £400 million to ending the Ebola outbreak throughout the crisis period. Sierra Leone was finally declared Ebola free on 17 March 2016.


Written Question
Sierra Leone: Ebola
Monday 19th July 2021

Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - South West Surrey)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference the UK’s response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone in 2014, how many (a) NHS and (b) armed forces personnel took part in tackling the outbreak; and what (i) equipment and (ii) funding did the UK Government provide to tackle that outbreak.

Answered by James Duddridge

The UK Government mounted a comprehensive response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, which involved ten departments and four arms' length bodies. More than 1,500 British military personnel, 150 NHS volunteers, 425 Public Health England staff and 250 DFID surge staff worked alongside staff at our High Commission in Freetown and in the UK.

The UK Government also provided 1,500 isolation and treatment beds at six Ebola treatment centres and 70 community care centres across the country. Support also included diagnostic laboratories, safe and dignified burials, assistance for households under quarantine, infection prevention and control, social mobilisation and community engagement. The Government committed more than £400 million to ending the Ebola outbreak throughout the crisis period. Sierra Leone was finally declared Ebola free on 17 March 2016.


Written Question
Overseas Aid: HIV Infection
Tuesday 29th June 2021

Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - South West Surrey)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government took to tackle HIV and AIDS worldwide in the (a) late 1990s and (b) early 2000s; and how much funding was allocated to that work during that time period.

Answered by Wendy Morton

The Department for International Development (DFID)'s departmental report in 2000 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/67962/deptreport2000.pdf) summarised UK efforts to tackle HIV and AIDS worldwide in 1999. This included multilateral support to agencies such as UNAIDS and bilateral sexual and reproductive health programmes in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, China and India. During 1999, DFID also announced £14 million for global AIDS vaccine research.

In 2001, DFID published a new Strategy on HIV/AIDS, and this was refreshed in 2004. In 2003, DFID established a new HIV/AIDS Policy Team and published a Call for Action on HIV/AIDS as part of intensified efforts to tackle the pandemic. A National Audit Office review of DFID's response to HIV/AIDS in 2004 (https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2004/06/0304664es.pdf) identified "DFID's broad-based approach, its flexibility of response in-country, and its role in supporting research as strengths", the review also included an analysis of spend UK aid spend on HIV and AIDS.


Written Question
Overseas Aid: HIV Infection
Tuesday 29th June 2021

Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - South West Surrey)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding the Government has allocated to securing universal international access to HIV (a) prevention, (b) treatment, (c) care and (d) support since 2005.

Answered by Wendy Morton

Bilateral Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) for HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, and care has been consistently tracked using the OECD-DAC sector code "13040 STD control including HIV/AIDS" which includes prevention, treatment and care and "16064 Social mitigation of HIV/AIDS" which includes support. Details of UK aid spend for 2017 to 2019 disaggregated by sector code can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921034/Data_Underlying_SID_2019.ods. Details of UK aid spend for 2009 to 2016 disaggregated by sector code can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/695435/data-underlying-the-sid2017-revision-March.ods. Details of UK aid Spend pre-2009 disaggregated by sector code can be found on the OECD-DAC CRVS system at: https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=crs1.

We estimate £1.5 billion of bilateral UK aid has been spent on STD control including HIV and AIDS, and £675,000 has been spent on Social mitigation of HIV and AIDS between 2005 and 2019. This includes support to prevention, treatment and care of HIV and AIDS. The UK continues to be a major funder of the global HIV response alongside our donor partners, including through £340 million support for the WHO and £1.4 billion pledge for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. This includes a commitment made this month to the Robert Carr Fund to reach inadequately served populations in the HIV response.


Written Question
Embassies: Official Hospitality
Monday 3rd February 2020

Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - South West Surrey)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of diplomatic entertainment activities of British overseas embassies in the 2018-19 financial year.

Answered by Heather Wheeler

​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) accounts for its hospitality expenditure under Representation of the FCO and Business Hospitality. The total overseas spend in the 2018-19 financial year was £10,990,314.80.


Written Question
Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Email
Tuesday 7th January 2020

Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - South West Surrey)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of his Department's (a) employees and (b) contractors use non-secure email servers whilst on overseas missions.

Answered by Heather Wheeler

It is our policy not to comment publicly on the security measures that protect our people, properties and information.