Coronavirus and Tuberculosis: Medical Equipment

(asked on 18th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they intend to provide to the Global Drug Facility to avoid shortages of key medical supplies and personal protective equipment for (1) tuberculosis, and (2) COVID-19, caused by current global supply and transport network disruptions.


Answered by
Baroness Sugg Portrait
Baroness Sugg
This question was answered on 28th May 2020

Along with other donors the UK is supporting UN agencies, the Red Cross and NGOs to respond to coronavirus in other countries. This includes helping the world’s poorest countries to access critical medical supplies including PPE. UK aid is also helping to increase global production of medical supplies, including PPE. This includes significant support to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help it work with global manufacturers.

The UK Government does not directly fund the Global Drug Facility, but it does provide significant funding to global bodies to tackle TB. This includes our funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, which we have committed £1.4 billion to for the next three years. We are also supporting developing countries through our multilateral partnerships with organisations like the WHO, and our regional and national programmes, to make their domestic health systems, including their TB programmes, stronger and more resilient.

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