Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help support free and fair elections in South Asia.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives are all expected to hold elections at different levels in 2024. Elections in Nepal are expected in 2027. The UK believes transparent, democratic governance is in the interests of all people and the long-term stability of every nation. We raise the importance of free and fair elections in our discussions with South Asian governments, and with opposition parties and others. We press for an end to harassment and intimidation of civil society, media and opposition parties. Ministers and HMG officials visiting the region, regularly convey that respect for the rule of law and access to justice are essential in open democracies.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help (a) the WHO and (b) international counterparts end tuberculosis by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK supports the WHO's End TB strategy, including through our £340 million investment in the WHO (2020-2024). The UK contributed actively to the agreement of the political declaration at this year's High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis (TB) at the UN General Assembly, where the UK was represented by Lord Ahmad. We pledged £1 billion to the 7th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria which will provide TB treatment and care to more than 1 million people. We also support work to bring down the prices of key TB products, tackle barriers to access, and test out innovative approaches to delivering TB diagnosis and treatment. Support includes funding to the TB Reach Initiative and the TB Alliance Product Development Partnership.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the Answer of 19 October 2023 to Question 202276 on Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine, if he will publish updated data on (a) (i) bilateral, (ii) multilateral and (iii) total spending on Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and (b) what that spending is as a proportion of Official Development Assistance in line with the methodology set out in the Donors Delivering for SRHR report 2023 in (A) 2019, (B) 2020 and (C) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Based on FCDO "Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2022", and the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) spend methodology laid out in the Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW) led "Donor Delivering for SRHR" 2023 report:
(i) The total amount of UK ODA SRHR funding disbursed by bilateral aid was £546 million in 2019, £401 million in 2020, £256 million in 2021.
(ii) The total amount of UK ODA SRHR funding disbursed by multilateral aid was £202 million in 2019, £329 million in 2020, £279 million in 2021.
(iii) The total amount of UK ODA SRHR funding disbursed was £748 million in 2019, £730 million in 2020 and £534 million in 2021.
The total proportion of ODA spend in line with the methodology set out in the Donors Delivering for SRHR report 2023 is as follows:
(a) 4.93% in 2019
(b) 5.04% in 2020
(c) 4.68% in 2021
Please note these figures are not adjusted for inflation and thus are not directly comparable with the ones from the Donor Delivering for SRHR report.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the World Health Organisation's 2023 Global Tuberculosis report; and whether his Department plans to take steps to help support the WHO's End TB Strategy.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government was pleased to see that the 2023 Global Tuberculosis report showed 7.5 million people were diagnosed and treated for Tuberculosis (TB) in 2022, the highest number since WHO started collecting the data in 1995, and also a slight reduction in the number of people dying from TB, from 1.4 million in 2021 to 1.3 million in 2022. The UK supports the WHO's End TB Strategy through our £1 billion funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, other complementary investments to bring down the prices of key TB products and tackle barriers to access, funding to the TB Reach Initiative, and funding for Research and Development, including to the TB Alliance Product Development Partnership.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the World Health Organisation's 2023 Global Tuberculosis report, what steps Government is taking to help increase global access to multi-drug resistant tuberculosis treatments.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to ending the Tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Through our £1 billion funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's seventh replenishment, the UK will help to provide treatment and care for more than one million people with tuberculosis. In addition we also fund catalytic interventions through Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and MedAccess to bring down the prices of new TB products and tackle barriers to widespread access. We also provide funding to TB Reach to support innovative projects towards finding missing Tuberculosis cases.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the World Health Organisation's 2023 Global Tuberculosis report, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the number of people diagnosed with tuberculosis globally.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to ending the Tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Through our £1 billion funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's seventh replenishment, the UK will help to provide treatment and care for more than one million people with tuberculosis. In addition we also fund catalytic interventions through Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and MedAccess to bring down the prices of new TB products and tackle barriers to widespread access. We also provide funding to TB Reach to support innovative projects towards finding missing Tuberculosis cases.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, , with reference to the World Health Organisation's 2023 Global Tuberculosis report, what steps the Government is taking to help reduce the cost of treatment for people with tuberculosis globally.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to ending the Tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Through our £1 billion funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's seventh replenishment, the UK will help to provide treatment and care for more than one million people with tuberculosis. In addition we also fund catalytic interventions through Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and MedAccess to bring down the prices of new TB products and tackle barriers to widespread access. We also provide funding to TB Reach to support innovative projects towards finding missing Tuberculosis cases.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181199 on Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine, if he will publish updated data on (a) bilateral aid in 2022 and (b) multilateral aid in 2021 for sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Based on FCDO "Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2022", and the Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) spend methodology laid out in the Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW) led "Donor Delivering for SRHR" 2023 report:
a/ The total amount of UK ODA Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) funding disbursed by bilateral aid was £297 million in 2022.
b/ The total amount of UK ODA SRHR funding disbursed by core multilateral aid was £279 million in 2021.
Please note the answer given to question 181199 was based on the methodology laid out in the "Donor Delivering for SRHR" 2022 report. The SRHR attribution coefficients have been revised in the 2023 methodology following DSW extensive consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders. Thus, the estimates provided above are not comparable.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to increase the share of funding allocated to the Global Fund to treat tuberculosis.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK's £1 billion pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria's seventh replenishment will help the Global Fund and its partners provide TB treatment and care for 1.1 million people. The Global Fund allocates funding to countries according to need. The decision on how much of that funding each country allocates to TB rests with the countries themselves.
The UK is working closely with others, including G7 partners, to ensure that the political declaration for the UN High Level Meeting on the fight against tuberculosis includes tangible and ambitious commitments, with quantitative targets and mechanisms for accountability.
We strongly support meaningful civil society participation at the UN General Assembly High Level Week. In preparation for the UN High-level meetings, I attended a roundtable with All Party Parliamentary Groups and civil society to share perspectives and inform the UK's position in the negotiations on the political declarations. The UN has official avenues for civil society participation in the High-level meetings.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to to support the (a) engagement and (b) attendance of civil society groups at the UN High-level Meeting on the fight against tuberculosis on 22 September 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK's £1 billion pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria's seventh replenishment will help the Global Fund and its partners provide TB treatment and care for 1.1 million people. The Global Fund allocates funding to countries according to need. The decision on how much of that funding each country allocates to TB rests with the countries themselves.
The UK is working closely with others, including G7 partners, to ensure that the political declaration for the UN High Level Meeting on the fight against tuberculosis includes tangible and ambitious commitments, with quantitative targets and mechanisms for accountability.
We strongly support meaningful civil society participation at the UN General Assembly High Level Week. In preparation for the UN High-level meetings, I attended a roundtable with All Party Parliamentary Groups and civil society to share perspectives and inform the UK's position in the negotiations on the political declarations. The UN has official avenues for civil society participation in the High-level meetings.