Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on vaccine research to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

The Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care and for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs co-signed the foreword to the cross-Government United Kingdom vision for antimicrobial resistance in 2040 and five year national action plan, published in January, and recognising the key role vaccination plays in minimising infections in both humans and animals.

The national action plan includes the commitment to stimulate more research into new vaccines for humans and animals, as well as improving the effectiveness of existing ones.

The Departments are working across Government and its agencies to implement the commitments in the national action plan.