Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support global (a) immunisation and (b) vaccination efforts; and if he will make a statement.
The UK Government has pledged £1.65 billion to Gavi, the Vaccines Alliance from 2021-2025 to support their mission to immunise 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives from vaccine-preventable diseases over this period. The UK has supported Gavi since its inception in 2000, during which time Gavi has vaccinated more than 1 billion children in 78 low-income countries, saving over 17 million lives. Alongside our Gavi investment, we are working with countries to build stronger primary health care systems to further bolster immunisation services.