Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment his department has made of (a) the implications for his policies of the WHO report entitled Global Tuberculosis Report 2019 and (b) the potential effect of a new TB vaccine on achieving the (i) SDG target of ending the TB epidemic by 2030 and (ii) WHO End TB Strategy of reducing TB deaths by 95% and cutting new cases of TB by 90% between 2015 and 2035.

The Global Tuberculosis Report 2019 provides important evidence on the challenge in tackling tuberculosis as an issue of global public health importance. We remain committed to the global effort and the World Health Organisation End Tuberculosis Strategy. We are proud to be at the forefront of work to prevent, detect and treat tuberculosis, including funding research to develop new treatments to tackle drug resistant tuberculosis. Our commitment to provide £1.4 billion to the latest replenishment of the Global Fund will help provide tuberculosis treatment and care for over 2 million people.

A new tuberculosis vaccine could potentially have a significant effect on reducing tuberculosis deaths, and there is cautious optimism about the results for one potential vaccine, although there is still a very high degree of uncertainty for this high-risk research. DFID carefully considers robust data on specific vaccines before taking a view on its role in tackling a disease, including its relative impact alongside other established interventions.