Asked by: Jim Dobbin (Labour (Co-op) - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2014, Official Report, column 1W, on abortion, if she will withdraw her Department's policy position paper entitled Safe and Unsafe Abortion pending a free vote in the House on the use of UK aid to (a) campaign for more liberal abortion laws in other countries and (b) provide abortion services in other countries.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The policy paper sets out how UK aid can be used to save the lives of women at risk from unsafe abortion, in accordance with the responsibilities that Parliament has given the Secretary of State.
Asked by: Jim Dobbin (Labour (Co-op) - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to reorganise its funding model to ensure that it is encouraging service delivery for complex multiple needs, in line with an intregrated model of healthcare solutions.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID supports work to strengthen health systems and deliver health programmes, helping developing countries to assess and provide for the health needs of its people. This will enable countries to make sound decisions about the delivery of the promotion, prevention and treatment services that are needed.
Asked by: Jim Dobbin (Labour (Co-op) - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department's vaccination programmes reach children with disabilities.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The UK is a leading advocate for vaccination coverage that ensures that the poorest and most vulnerable groups, including those with disability, have access to essential vaccines. The UK funds the GAVI Alliance, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and the Measles and Rubella Initiative to conduct supplemental immunisation activities, specifically targeting children who are outside the routine immunisation service delivery system.
The UK's goal on immunisations is that every child is fully immunised with equitable coverage of core vaccines. In 2011, the UK committed over four years to vaccinate over 80 million children against preventable diseases, including diseases which can lead to disability, through the GAVI Alliance. DFID's 2014 Annual Report shows we are on track to meet this commitment.