Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that child survival is on the agenda at this year’s high-level global meetings.

The UK is a strong advocate for the achievement of universal health coverage to ensure child survival, though strengthening health systems – a key issue for this year’s UN General Assembly. The UK invests around £1 billion per year through bilateral aid programmes in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, and our support to Gavi, the vaccines alliance, has contributed to the safe vaccination of over 700 million children. The UK will host Gavi’s replenishment in 2020, a demonstration of our continuing commitment to support efforts to save children’s lives from preventable diseases.