Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the HIV epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The UK is a longstanding donor to the health sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over the past six years, we have provided better basic health services to 9.7 million people.

Through bilateral and multilateral partners such as the Global Fund, we are contributing directly to tackling HIV/AIDS through the following interventions:

(i) Provision of treatment for HIV/AIDS cases and strengthening the health system to respond to cases;

(ii) Provision of treatment for sexually transmitted infection and to survivors of sexual violence; and

(iii) Increase community awareness and case reporting of sexual violence.