Measles Cases

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Lord Bishop of St Albans

Monday 22nd January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

I am very happy to meet my noble friend’s community leaders. It is very concerning that certain segments of our communities feel uncertainty and doubt about these very safe vaccines, and the Government are working very hard with all sections of the community.

[The Lord Bishop of St Albans]

My Lords, on the relatively low take-up in minority communities, either the message is not getting through, sometimes for language reasons, or there is a lack of trust. There is quite a lot of evidence, not least in other parts of the world, that the way to address that is to clearly target the recognised community leaders so that they can act as brokers. What attempts are being made to work in our gurdwaras, temples and mosques in particular, to get those leaders to commend these vaccinations to the people with whom they are in direct contact?

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

The right reverend Prelate is right to bring up this subject. Pop-up clinics are a quick and easy way to serve hard-to-reach communities. He mentioned mosques, where the Government are using a new initiative to encourage parents to take their children for immunisation. He also mentioned distrust of the vaccine; for example, there are variations with different make-ups. For those with religious beliefs about using pig content, there are alternatives. There is no reason why anybody in this country should not take up this very safe vaccine; as he says, we have to encourage all sections of the community to take it up.

Vector-borne Diseases

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Lord Bishop of St Albans

Thursday 14th December 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My Lords, I can confirm that an assessment has been completed. The Health Effects of Climate Change report shows the risks to the UK from vector-borne diseases, which are more likely in a warming climate. Working across government, the UK Health Security Agency’s extensive surveillance, including of vectors, animals, and humans, seeks to mitigate the risk of these diseases by minimising the likelihood of exotic vectors establishing, and by managing imported and locally acquired human cases.

[The Lord Bishop of St Albans]

I thank the Minister for his reply. If we are to minimise the impact of mosquito-borne diseases, we need, with some urgency, to develop a new generation of insecticides and other preventive measures for vector control. What long-term plans and support do His Majesty’s Government have to support product development partnerships, so we can minimise the impact of mosquito-borne diseases, whether in sub-Saharan Africa today, or in this country by 2050?

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My Lords, I note that Health Ministers get asked Foreign Office questions, and Foreign Office Ministers get health questions. However, the right reverend Prelate raises a very good point. It is a very topical issue. The UK is a world leader in life sciences, and British science is at the cutting edge of fighting malaria. Our support to public/private product development partnerships has helped saved many lives. This includes support to the Liverpool-based Innovative Vector Control Consortium to develop novel bed nets and next-generation insecticides to overcome the threat of insecticide resistance. Since 2017, we have provided £44 million to develop new insecticides to prevent vector transmission of malaria and other vector-borne diseases. IVCC has developed many ground-breaking technologies, including a novel type of bed net that kills mosquitoes’ resistance to traditional insecticides.

NHS: General Medical Practitioners

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Lord Bishop of St Albans

Monday 20th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

I completely agree with my noble friend. The 2022 GP patient survey showed that 72% of patients reported a good overall experience at their GP practices. GP practices that innovate tend to get better results in customer patient satisfaction.

[The Lord Bishop of St Albans]

My Lords, how many doctors, including GPs, have come from outside the UK in the last year for which we have records? What long-term plan is there to stop us relying on having to bring in doctors from countries that need them far more than we do because they are much poorer than here in the UK?

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans asks an important question but the recovery plan introduced new measures to support international medical students, who make up more than half of all doctors in GP training, so if we were to stop those students coming over we would be in real trouble ourselves. On his wider point he is absolutely right, but it is not just GPs and doctors; it is also healthcare professionals in social services and elsewhere.