Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK’s foreign aid programs for 2021-22 will support the delivery of essential healthcare services in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK remains firmly committed to ensuring access to essential healthcare services for Palestinians. We are a longstanding supporter to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides core services, including healthcare to Palestinian refugees. Our future spending allocations will be set in the next Spending Review and full budgets for 2021 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development website and in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the UK’s decision to reduce funding that supports the salaries of health and education workers in Palestine on the delivery of essential healthcare services in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Following Official Development Assistance (ODA) prioritisation exercises undertaken in March 2021, the UK no longer provides direct funding to the Palestinian Authority to support the salaries of education workers and health professionals. The UK remains firmly committed to ensuring access to essential healthcare services for Palestinians. We are a longstanding supporter to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides core services, including healthcare to Palestinian refugees.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Government of Israel on the ending of policies and practices which inhibit a covid-19 response in the occupied Palestinian territories including the blockade and closure of Gaza.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Cooperation is key to tackling Covid-19. The British Embassy Tel Aviv and the British Consulate-General Jerusalem are in regular contact with both parties and continue to urge them to coordinate on vaccine access.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 (a) local availability of cancer services in Gaza and (b) access to treatment outside Gaza for cancer patients.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We have made clear our concern about the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the significant damage and destruction of civilian infrastructure, hospitals and clinics. The UK Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the importance of access to healthcare, including critical health services, with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 1 June. We are urging the Government of Israel to ensure this access is maintained. The long-lasting movement restrictions and the serious constraints imposed by the occupation can impact the provision of medical care. The wounded and critically ill in Gaza should be able to access the urgent medical care they need.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 financial capacity of the Palestinian Ministry of Health to respond to ongoing needs during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We welcome the steps that the Israeli and Palestinian authorities have taken so far to coordinate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and encourage further dialogue in this regard. The UK is committed to global equitable access to effective vaccines as demonstrated by our £548 million contribution to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) - the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines. The Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) were among the first to benefit from the COVAX scheme with its first delivery of vaccines on 17 March 2021. Since that initial shipment, we are pleased that several further deliveries have arrived in the OPTs, including most recently on 25 August 2021.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of global equitable access to covid-19 vaccines on the emergence of viral variants of covid-19.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All viruses change constantly through mutation, and many thousands of variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been detected across the world. Most have little to no impact on the virus's ability to cause infections and disease, but some can pose higher risks. Variants are more likely to arise in areas of high transmission. In addition to basic public health measures, the World Health Organisation has advised that ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines will reduce virus circulation. This will ultimately lead to fewer mutations and variants.
The UK is committed to rapid, equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. We are among the largest donors to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), committing £548 million, which leveraged $1 billion from other donors in 2020 through match funding. This support to COVAX has been critical to it supplying COVID-19 vaccines to over 120 countries, and economies. We have also committed to share the majority of our supply of any surplus vaccine doses with COVAX.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many covid-19 vaccine doses the UK has shared through the COVAX facility in 2021.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to rapid, equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, and the Prime Minister has said that we will share the majority of any doses that are surplus to UK needs with COVAX. As the multilateral mechanism set up to support international cooperation on vaccines, COVAX remains best-placed for allocating vaccines where they are most needed, and will be most effective. We have already committed £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, which specifically supports vaccine access for at least 500 million people in up to 92 low and middle income countries in 2021. Our wider support for COVAX has enabled the mechanism to reach over 120 countries.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether covid-19 vaccine dose-sharing will count towards the Official Development Assistance budget for 2021.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a founding member, and one of the largest donors to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, contributing £548 million for global equitable access. This £548 million spend, and the vital work it supports, has been assessed as ODA eligible, and will be met under our commitment to spend 0.5% of UK GNI on ODA.