Global health security - Foreign Affairs Committee - UK Inquiry Tracker

Global health security

Foreign Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 16 Oct 2020 Closed: 16 Dec 2021 Parliament page

This inquiry will scrutinise the FCDO’s role in delivering the Prime Minister’s vision of a “new global approach to health security”. It will build on the Committee’s previous report ‘Viral Immunity—The FCO’s role in building a coalition against COVID-19’ and our work on multilateral organisations including the WHO. Read the … Read more

12 Recommendations

1 Conclusion

1 Report

4 Oral sessions

1 Letter

4 Events

Activity timeline 11 events

16 Dec
2021

Report published

Sixth Special Report - Global Health, Global Britain: Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report

30 Sep
2021

Report published

Fifth Report - Global Health, Global Britain

22 Sep
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Minister Wendy Morton following her appearance before the Committee on 13 July 2021, dated 28/07/2021

13 Jul
2021

Oral evidence

Foreign Affairs Committee

13 Jul
2021

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Foreign Affairs Committee

22 Jun
2021

Oral evidence

Foreign Affairs Committee

22 Jun
2021

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster

Foreign Affairs Committee

20 Apr
2021

Oral evidence

Foreign Affairs Committee

20 Apr
2021

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Virtual meeting

Foreign Affairs Committee

9 Mar
2021

Oral evidence

Foreign Affairs Committee

9 Mar
2021

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Virtual meeting

Foreign Affairs Committee

Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions

13 Jul 2021

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Foreign Affairs Committee

Darren Welch · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Robert Tinline · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Wendy Morton · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

22 Jun 2021

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Foreign Affairs Committee

Niall Ferguson Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt

20 Apr 2021

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Foreign Affairs Committee

Dr John N. Nkengasong · African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Dr Mark Eccleston-Turner · Keele University Dr Yanzhong Huang · Council on Foreign Relations Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw · Biocon Limited Mark Galeotti · Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)

9 Mar 2021

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Foreign Affairs Committee

Dr Clare Wenham · London School of Economics Professor Colin McInnes · Aberystwyth University

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Fifth Report - Global Health, Global Britain	HC 200	30 Sep 2021	13	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

13 results

1 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

Another pandemic could wreak just as much havoc on the global economy and have just...

Another pandemic could wreak just as much havoc on the global economy and have just as devastating an effect on global health outcomes as war, famine or environmental disaster. The temptation for world leaders will be to ignore the risks … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

2 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

The pandemic has exposed shortcomings in the multilateral health system.

The pandemic has exposed shortcomings in the multilateral health system. The WHO lacks adequate funds, power and independence. It has done hugely important work in a difficult situation, facing intense pressure from many sides. However, it performed less effectively than … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

3 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

To be more effective and independent, the WHO needs more reliable sources of funding, based...

To be more effective and independent, the WHO needs more reliable sources of funding, based on predictable fees from member states, rather than earmarked voluntary donations. We welcome the UK’s commitment to increase its core funding to the organisation. This … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

4 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

The WHO needs support to withstand political pressure from certain member states.

The WHO needs support to withstand political pressure from certain member states. There should be no space for doubt about the independence of the WHO’s leadership, particularly given the organisation’s important work during the pandemic. Working in a highly political … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

5 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

Without a full and transparent investigation into the origins of covid-19, we are at greater...

Without a full and transparent investigation into the origins of covid-19, we are at greater risk of a disastrous new outbreak. By impeding efforts to trace the origins of the virus, Beijing is endangering its own population along with the … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

6 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

Taiwan’s impressive response to covid-19 illustrates that its exclusion from WHO forums risks harming global...

Taiwan’s impressive response to covid-19 illustrates that its exclusion from WHO forums risks harming global health security, making it harder to exchange information with Taiwan and learn from its experiences. In a deeply interconnected world, where the next pandemic could … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

7 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

We are concerned that the UK’s reduced access to European health networks could undermine the...

We are concerned that the UK’s reduced access to European health networks could undermine the UK and European response to future disease outbreaks. We recommend that the Government builds structured permanent cooperation with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

8 Conclusion

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

When we launched this inquiry, in October 2020, it was not known whether there would...

When we launched this inquiry, in October 2020, it was not known whether there would ever be effective vaccines against covid-19. Today, less than a year later, all UK adults have been offered full immunisation, and 41 percent of the … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

9 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

The glaring inequality in global access to vaccines has created the opportunity for autocracies such...

The glaring inequality in global access to vaccines has created the opportunity for autocracies such as Russia and China to seek to undermine the West and expand their influence by donating and selling vaccines. Even if these campaigns have fallen … Read more The glaring inequality in global access to vaccines has created the opportunity for autocracies such as Russia and China to seek to undermine the West and expand their influence by donating and selling vaccines. Even if these campaigns have fallen short on delivery, there is still a worrying potential to undermine UK influence overseas and harm its reputation as a force for good. We welcome the UK’s commitment to donate 100 million vaccines in the year to June 2022. However, this target falls far short of what is needed to meet the health challenge and protect British nationals from further outbreaks and variants, let alone meet our moral duty. We urge the Government to make every effort to achieve a significant increase in the speed and number of vaccines it donates through COVAX. Delays in vaccinating the world could mean irreparable damage to global health security, widening inequalities, undermining lower-income country health systems, and increasing the disease burden in the parts of the world that can least afford it. The UK should ensure that any bilateral donations are planned and timed to give real, sustainable and predictable support to other countries’ vaccination campaigns, rather than transferring small quantities that do more for the image of the donor than for the recipient. While a strategic approach may be appropriate for some foreign aid, lower-income countries in particular need predictable, needs-based vaccine supplies—this matters to us all. Ensuring there is low infection is key to ensuring there are few variants. In response to this report, the FCDO should set out a list of the countries that have and will receive bilateral donations from the UK, with dates, quantities, and the factors that went into each decision. The response should set out the FCDO’s role in selecting these countries, how this is coordinated with other Departments, and how it links to the objectives set out in the Integrated Review. We recommend that the Government sets out Show less

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

10 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

To defeat covid-19, and tackle future pandemics, a wider range of countries need the ability...

To defeat covid-19, and tackle future pandemics, a wider range of countries need the ability to produce vaccines. The production of AstraZeneca by India’s Serum Institute offers a good model for technology transfer to build this capacity. Many national leaders … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

11 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

Deliberate misinformation about the safety of vaccines is not only irresponsible— it costs lives.

Deliberate misinformation about the safety of vaccines is not only irresponsible— it costs lives. Tackling state-backed falsehoods on covid-19 should be an integral part of the Government’s global health security strategy. To promote global access to covid-19 vaccines and bring … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

12 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

The pandemic has highlighted the global nature of health security, and the need for greater...

The pandemic has highlighted the global nature of health security, and the need for greater international cooperation in this area. In an interconnected world, health security is inextricable from foreign policy. A cross-Government strategy on global health security is important … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

13 Recommendation

Fifth Report - Global Health, Glob…

The Government argued that the FCO-DFID merger would be an opportunity to align aid spending...

The Government argued that the FCO-DFID merger would be an opportunity to align aid spending with diplomatic policy, with the potential for gains in global health security. We are concerned that the Government is squandering this opportunity by making ill-considered … Read more

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Correspondence 1 letter

22 Sep 2021 Correspondence from Minister Wendy Morton following her appearance before the Committee on 13 July 2021, dated 28/07/2021

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