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 support the provision of pharmaceutical cold-chain capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The UK is committed to improving access to safe, effective, quality and affordable medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and other essential health commodities in low- and lower-middle income countries. This includes both strengthening country health systems, and ensuring that new vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics are appropriate for settings such as rural areas, with limited health services and infrastructure. The UK's £1.65 billion commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance over five years includes support to strengthen vaccine supply chains and improve cold chain technologies. Our support to public-private partnerships such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) includes developing stable vaccines that can be distributed through immunisation cold chains or without refrigeration.