Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has to seek the inclusion of an affirmation of the right of all countries to use TRIPS flexibilities to ensure access affordable medicines in the UN tuberculosis high level meeting outcome document.

The Department for International Development is playing a proactive role in shaping the content of the outcome document for the forthcoming UNGA High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis, which is still being negotiated. The UK’s position is that the outcome document must be consistent with agreed international treaties on intellectual property rights, notably TRIPS and the Doha Declaration on Public Health (2001). In line with the declaration, we support developing countries in utilising TRIPS flexibilities in the case of national health emergencies such as pandemics.