Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2020 to Question 43725, if she will publish the Government policies to ensure pharmaceutical companies in receipt of public funds allow equitable access to covid-19 vaccines and medical tools for people living in the Global South.

DFID supports international organisations and partnerships to develop new medical technologies for diseases affecting people in low-income countries, including COVID-19. These organisations and partnerships are committed to developing products that meet developing country needs and are affordable and accessible. They adopt a range of policies and partnership approaches to achieve this, which are relevant to contexts, stakeholders and challenges particular to different disease areas and product types.

We encourage dialogue across industry, international organisations and governments on how best to facilitate access to medicines, including through the use of TRIPS-compliant licensing models in developing countries. We encourage the use of non-exclusive voluntary licensing, the transfer of technology to developing countries and business model innovation.

The Government is committed to supporting access to COVID-19 medical technologies for developing countries, and we are working closely with international partners, including through the ACT-accelerator, to support this ambition. We have committed £250 million of UK aid to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, £40 million to the?Wellcome?Therapeutics Accelerator and up to £23 million to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, to support equitable access to COVID-19 medical technologies.

Furthermore, we are ensuring that publicly funded work to find a vaccine in the UK supports global efforts. If the Oxford University trials are successful, AstraZeneca have said they will work with global partners on distributing a vaccine internationally, making it available to developing countries.