Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent representations she has received from pharmaceutical companies on the development of a vaccine for malaria; and if she will make a statement.

A long-lasting, efficacious and cost-effective vaccine would make a major contribution to malaria control. In October 2014 DFID last received an update on progress from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), who have been developing the RTS,S vaccine with the non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI). We will be looking closely at the results of the phase III trials of the RTS,S vaccine when they are released and the position of the World Health Organisation, who will not formally review the evidence and take a policy decision on the vaccine until 2015.