Developing Countries: Coronavirus

(asked on 16th March 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to help ensure that a covid-19 vaccine developed with support funded by the international development budget is affordable for developing countries.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 20th March 2020

The UK is at the forefront of supporting the science-led approach to tackling COVID-19 around the world and has invested £65 million so far into COVID-19 research. This includes investment in research and development of a possible vaccine, as well as more immediate gains such as rapid diagnostics and therapeutics.

An effective vaccine will be vital to the long-term control of the outbreak. To date the UK has invested £40 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), specifically for COVID-19 vaccine development, alongside our existing support to their research. DFID will work with CEPI and others to ensure that any vaccine candidates are affordable and accessible to developing countries.

We have also made available up to £150 million to the International Monetary Fund to help developing countries meet their debt repayments so that they can focus their available resources on tackling coronavirus. This will enable developing countries to direct greater resources to their healthcare efforts, helping prevent the virus from spreading around the world.

Our response builds on the UK’s longstanding record of supporting countries across the globe to prepare for large disease outbreaks. This includes being the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Between 2016 and 2020, DFID provided £1.44 billion of support to GAVI. With UK support they have vaccinated 76 million children between 2016 and 2020, saving 1.4 million lives from vaccine preventable diseases.

Reticulating Splines