Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is planning to give to countries affected by the Zika virus.

British officials across the Americas have been working closely with their counterparts on steps to understand and prevent the spread of the disease. We have focused particularly on Brazil, which has seen the highest number of cases in the region. On 26 January, the UK announced a new Zika research project between Glasgow University and Fiocruz, a leading biomedical research centre in Brazil. The following day, a scientist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine arrived in Recife to support Zika research led by the Pan American Health Organsation. Discussions are also ongoing between FCO officials and the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency with regards to combating this virus. On 1 February, the World Health Organisation (WHO) categorised the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. This declaration by the WHO allows for the immediate allocation of emergency funds to support their necessary medical research. The United Kingdom is already the WHO’s second largest donor, providing a £15 million assessed contribution in 2015 in addition to a further, voluntary, contribution from the Department For International Development (DFID) of £14.5 million.