Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) global health and (b) related international funding will be discussed at the UK-France summit.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As part of the UK-France Summit, the Foreign Secretary agreed with his counterpart that the UK and France should specifically collaborate on issues such as global health security; Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR); One Health, including Antimicrobial Resistance; reform of global health architecture; universal health coverage and equitable health policies; and nutrition. These reflect shared priorities in global health.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has considered alternative (a) funding strategies and (b) partnerships to help tackle HIV/AIDS, in the context of the proposed reduction in Official Development Allowance funding.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to the global HIV response and regularly engages in dialogue, and works in partnership, with other likeminded countries towards achieving a collective goal of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health threat globally, including in developing countries. The UK looks forward to co-hosting the Global Fund's 8th replenishment (2026-28) alongside South Africa. It will be the first time that the Global Fund replenishment has been co-hosted in partnership with the Global South, reflecting the UK Government's commitment to working in genuine partnership with the Global South as part of its modernised development agenda, and our new approach to Africa. The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help mitigate the impact of reductions in funding for global HIV/AIDS programmes.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
We remain committed to our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, and we continue to support efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We are excited to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have declined by 73 per cent since 2002.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle HIV-related deaths and infection, in the context of the proposed reduction in Official Development Allowance funding.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
We remain committed to our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, and we continue to support efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We are excited to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have declined by 73 per cent since 2002.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with international counterparts to help tackle HIV/AIDS.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are proud of our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, including the Global Fund, Unitaid and UNAIDS which have helped reduce AIDS-related deaths by 69 per cent since the peak in 2004. The UK has played, and continues to play, a significant role in this success. We are pleased to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In 2023, 25 million people were on lifesaving antiretroviral therapy in countries where the Global Fund invests.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with international organizations to help improve access to HIV prevention tools in Africa.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK's funding and political support of global health institutions such as WHO, Unitaid, UNAIDS, CHAI, Medaccess, the Global Fund, and the Robert Carr Fund helps to ensure that people at high risk of HIV, including in Africa, can access HIV prevention and treatment when needed. This includes accelerating affordable access to new innovations. For example, our funding to Unitaid has helped expand affordable HIV self-testing for less than US$2 in 135 low-and middle-income countries and allowed for over 4.8 million kits to be distributed in Africa. Wider market shaping initiatives support generic production, increasing access to innovative medical countermeasures for HIV prevention, like Lenacapavir.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) marginalized and (b) high-risk populations in (i) low and (ii) medium-income countries receive adequate HIV prevention support.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Addressing stigma, discrimination and barriers to access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment is vital for the global HIV response. The UK is a champion of human rights globally, and our funding to the Robert Carr Fund and UNAIDS has helped to combat stigma and improve access to services for those most marginalised, including LGBT+ people, in low- and middle-income countries.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what projects his Department funds to help tackle HIV globally.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
The UK makes significant contributions to the global HIV response through funding to multilateral partners, including UNAIDS, the Global Fund and UNITAID.
Our wider health investments also contribute to ending AIDS-related deaths and preventing new HIV infections. In particular this includes our support for:
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of UNITAID.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
As a founding partner, the UK has been a proud supporter of UNITAID for nearly 20 years. We continue to highly value our partnership and have contributed more than half a billion pounds in funding.
We assess UNITAID to be a highly impactful partner. More than 300 million people use UNITAID-supported health products every year - and they have consistently delivered against their programmatic objectives. We welcome recent analysis from UNITAID and Cambridge Economic Policy Associates showing they deliver £46 of impact for every £1 invested.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Gavi and (b) the Global Fund on the adequacy of their funding.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
On 12 September, I [Minister for Development] met with the CEO of Gavi to discuss Gavi's recent Investment Case launch and replenishment timings. FCDO hosted the annual strategic dialogue with the Global Fund on 17 September, which focused on the UK's priorities ahead of the eighth replenishment.
The UK is working with the international community to coordinate efforts and ensure sustainable resources for all upcoming global health replenishments; including for Gavi, the World Health Organization, and the Global Fund. Effective coordination across the Global Health Initiatives will be needed to deliver for the global health challenges ahead.