Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the development of a malaria vaccine by the Oxford-based Jenner Institute will have on saving lives around the world.

The UK welcomed the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation on 2 October 2023 of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine for the prevention of malaria in children. We supported the decision by the Gavi board in December 2021 to launch a malaria vaccine programme, including with support through the UK's contribution to Gavi, and look forward to Gavi supporting the future rollout of R21 once Pre-Qualified by WHO. The UK's £1.65 billion funding from 2021 to 2025 to Gavi will immunise 75 million children and save up to 2 million lives from vaccine preventable diseases, including malaria. Our £1 billion pledge to the 7th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will help to distribute 86 million mosquito nets and provide malaria treatment and care for 18 million people. UK support to Unitaid will help countries to optimise the introduction of new malaria prevention tools and help to ensure that malaria medicines and tools are affordable and accessible for all.