Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the UK's contribution to global TB research and role in advancing the further development of diagnostics, improved treatments and a TB vaccine; and if she will make a statement.

The UK Government is a major investor in tuberculosis (TB) research, for the development of diagnostics, improved treatments and TB vaccines. The UK also supports applied health research, to strengthen health systems, to ensure effective delivery of health services so that new products, once available, can be used appropriately.

To date, DFID support has been instrumental in the development of five new diagnostics for TB, including GeneXpert, which is used routinely in the UK NHS, has reduced the time taken to diagnose drug-sensitive and drug resistant TB from several weeks to a few hours. DFID support also enabled the development of the first paediatric TB medicine, which is now available in 80 countries across the globe.