Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about (1) the levels of malnutrition and disease among children in each of the camps for internally displaced people in Darfur, and (2) the plans of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to deal with those problems.
Answered by Baroness Verma
The executive summary of the comprehensive survey undertaken by UNICEF of nutrition and health indicators in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, funded by DFID at the end of 2013, is available online. This survey confirms that overall levels of nutrition and health in Darfur IDP camps continue to be of concern, for example 44% of children in Zamzam camp in North Darfur were recorded as suffering from stunting. Indicators for camps in North and Central Darfur are generally worse than camps in other areas; however the health and nutrition situation for IDPs located in camps tends to be better than the situation for resident and displaced populations in other parts of Darfur located outside of camps. A follow up survey, to be partially funded by DFID, is planned to take place in mid-2016.
The United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has played a central role in developing the Sudan 2015 Humanitarian Response Plan which aims to address the humanitarian needs of up to 5.4 million vulnerable people in Darfur and other parts of Sudan and appeals for funding of £650 million to achieve this. In line with agreed strategic objectives, OCHA coordinates the activities of in country partners, including other UN agencies and national and international non-governmental organisations and allocates funding received through the appeal to humanitarian projects across Sudan, such as those to tackle disease and malnutrition. DFID is the third largest humanitarian donor in support of this appeal.
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will be representing the United Kingdom Government at the World Health Organisation Second International Conference on Nutrition in Rome from 19 to 21 November.
Answered by Baroness Northover
I will personally be attending the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) along with high level representatives from DFID and the Department of Health.
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to promote integrated healthcare structures and policy in the United Nations post-2015 development agenda.
Answered by Baroness Northover
The UK government supports the inclusion of integrated approaches to healthcare in a post 2015 agenda, as shown through the emphasis on Universal Health Coverage in the Report of the High-Level Panel, chaired by the Prime Minister, and its inclusion as a target in the proposal of the Open Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals.
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the outcomes arising from the Department for International Developments-sponsored product development partnerships.
Answered by Baroness Northover
Public private product development partnerships (PDPs) have been shown to expedite the development of new drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests, achieving results faster than either the public or private sectors alone.
Prior to the creation of PDPs, only 20 drugs were developed for neglected diseases between 1975 and 2000. Since 2000, UK Government funded PDPs have developed 19 new products including drugs for malaria, TB, neglected tropical diseases (such as sleeping sickness and visceral leishmaniasis), one vaccine for diarrhoea (rotavirus) and six new diagnostic tests (5 for TB and the first ever rapid diagnostic test for sleeping sickness).
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with international counterparts on including product development partnerships in the post-2015 development agenda.
Answered by Baroness Northover
Officials from my Department regularly discuss the importance of product development partnerships (PDPs) and the continued important role for technology development in the post-2015 development agenda. The UK currently chairs the international Product Development Funders’ Group, including both bilateral and multilateral agencies as well as private foundations. Officials also participate in the annual Product Development Forum arranged by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on the potential role of product development partnerships in the post-2015 development agenda.
Answered by Baroness Northover
The UK Government recognises the important role of new health technologies and product development partnerships (PDPs) in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and in the post-2015 agenda. The UK is the second largest government supporter of this research and will continue to promote it along with international partners.
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to promote innovative medical technologies and product development partnerships as part of the post-2015 development agenda.
Answered by Baroness Northover
The UK Government recognises the important role of new health technologies and product development partnerships (PDPs) in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and in the post-2015 agenda. The UK is the second largest government supporter of this research and will continue to promote it along with international partners.
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decisions taken at the World Bank’s Executive Board meeting on 30 July 2014.
Answered by Baroness Northover
We welcome the draft framework as an important step forward in updating the Bank’s approach to safeguards and as a good basis for further consultation. We will continue to engage with World Bank management as the framework is developed further during the second consultation stage.
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the World Bank about the Bank’s policies regarding safeguards for indigenous peoples.
Answered by Baroness Northover
We welcome the draft framework as an important step forward in updating the Bank’s approach to safeguards and as a good basis for further consultation. We will continue to engage with World Bank management as the framework is developed further during the second consultation stage.
Asked by: Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment has been made at the Girl Summit 2014 of the role played by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) in safeguarding the health of women and girls, and in addressing gender-related barriers to accessing immunisation services; and what assessment they have made of the cost-effectiveness so far of the United Kingdom’s contribution towards GAVI’s programme, agreed in the Multilateral Aid Review of March 2011.
Answered by Baroness Northover
The focus of Girl Summit 2014 was on ending female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage. No specific assessment was made at the Summit on the role of the GAVI Alliance in safeguarding the health of women and girls or addressing gender-related barriers to accessing immunisation services. However, GAVI is rolling-out two vaccines that will directly benefit girls and women: rubella vaccine, which protects against a disease damaging to unborn children; and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, which helps prevent cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of death in young women in sub-Saharan Africa. GAVI will immunise over 30 million girls with HPV vaccines during 2013-2020 which will prevent over 150,000 women dying each year. GAVI is working to overcome the barriers to introducing the HPV vaccine in developing countries by reducing the high cost of the vaccine and tackling the challenges of immunising girls aged nine to thirteen years by integrating HPV immunisation with wider health interventions targeted at adolescent girls.
The UK’s support to GAVI remains a highly cost effective way to achieve childhood immunisation results at scale. The 2011 UK Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) ranked GAVI as being very good value for money. The 2013 MAR Update confirmed that GAVI is continuing to make reasonable progress. An example of this is that GAVI helped to secure a reduction in price of 35% between 2010-2012 of the three vaccines it spends the most money on.