Ebola Response Update

John Bercow Excerpts

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is some interest in this matter. We appreciate both the Minister’s statement and her desire to provide comprehensive replies, but I remind the House that there are several hours of debate upcoming on the Finance Bill and before we even get to that we have a further statement to follow. I want the next statement to start at two o’clock, so we need short questions and very short answers.

[James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

The Minister mentions Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. It is a good idea to be investing in those countries, but has the Minister also considered investing in Burundi, particularly given the economic and political instability, and the poor health system in that neighbouring country?

--- Later in debate ---

[Harriett Baldwin]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s comments. I want to reassure the House that from the very get-go—both with this outbreak and in the earlier outbreak—the UK made it clear that we will provide resources. What we really need is for the WHO and the DRC Government to co-operate on delivering them. He will be aware that some very brave people from Public Health England were able to fly out to the first outbreak, when the experimental vaccine was deployed for the first time. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to their amazing bravery, and indeed to the bravery of all health workers involved in this particular deployment.

I would also like to underline the other ways in which the UK is providing support. Financial support is obviously important, as was the initial support from Public Health England in terms of the cold chain. We helped to develop the vaccine and we also help in terms of widespread support to the health systems in poorer countries, including the DRC, where I was able to see some of the work that we have helped to support. We also support the MONUSCO peacekeeping operation, so there is a wide variety of ways in which the UK helps.

On the hon. Gentleman’s specific point about other experimental vaccines that we may be investigating, I will write to him.

[Mr Speaker]

We will now have an exemplification of brevity—I call Sir Desmond Swayne.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Victims are at their most infectious when they are dead. A key intervention in Sierra Leone was burial teams; are they being deployed in the Congo?