Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help support South American countries tackle the covid-19 pandemic.
The coronavirus outbreak is the biggest public health emergency in a generation, and needs a strong and coordinated global health response. The UK Government is working with its South American counterparts, both bilaterally and via multilateral fora, to deliver a robust global response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes working with all our international partners, including the G7, G20, the EU, Commonwealth, NATO, the UN and other multilateral institutions, to provide direct funding to vulnerable countries to help them prepare their health systems, and to global organisations like the WHO to help slow the spread of the virus.
As a force for good in the world, the UK has a longstanding record of supporting countries across the globe to prepare for large disease outbreaks, and we will continue to focus our efforts in the South American region on the key areas of reinforcing the resilience of vulnerable countries; pursuing a vaccine; and supporting the global economy.