Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help strengthen the capacity of the health care system in Yemen to respond to the spread of covid-19 in that country.

The UK has been supporting the health system in Yemen during the five-year conflict and has funded over 4.7 million medical consultations and 2.6 million vaccines since 2017. Last year, the UK provided £240 million in response to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, with over £42 million supporting United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

We continue to engage closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF who are providing vital equipment across the country, including testing supplies, personal protective equipment and ventilators. The UK also recently announced an extra £10 million to the WHO globally, to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in developing countries and we will consider additional COVID-19 support to Yemen should further funding be required.