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 the covid-19 pandemic on maternal and child health services in developing countries; and what steps he is taken to help mitigate that effect.

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to put pressure on essential services, resulting in disruptions with significant impacts for maternal and child health services in developing countries. For example in a World Health Organisation (WHO) country survey, 56% of responding countries reported disruption to antenatal care services.

The UK Government remains committed to supporting child, newborn and maternal health interventions as part of our manifesto commitment to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Globally we are working with agencies such as the WHO, GAVI the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Financing Facility to support governments to maintain health systems in affected countries, provide technical assistance and immunise children.