Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recommendations of the overall programme review of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual property of WHO; and what steps the Government plans to take to support the WHO secretariat in promoting transparency in and understanding of the costs of research and development.

The recommendations of the overall programme review of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health Innovation and Intellectual property were discussed at the World Health Organisation Executive Board Meeting in January 2018. The UK Government is supportive of the strategy. The UK, together with other Member States, will be involved in further discussions about the recommendations, including work on promoting transparency in and understanding of the costs of research and development, and how to support the WHO Secretariat to take them forward, at the World Health Assembly in May 2018.