Fifth Report - Global Health, Global Britain

Select Committee

Foreign Affairs Committee HC 200 30 September 2021

Report Status Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations 13 items (13 recs)

Source View on Parliament website

Government Response (AI assessment · 13 of 13 classified)

Accepted 5

Accepted in Part 6

Acknowledged 2

Government response

Sixth Special Report - Global Health, Global Britain: Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report · published 16 Dec 2021

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Recommendations & Conclusions

13 results

1 Recommendation Acknowledged

Para 9

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government states that G7 and G20 meeting agendas are at the discretion of the presidency. It highlights past and current efforts under UK and Italian presidencies to keep pandemic preparedness central and commits to continuing to work with presidencies to ensure health threats remain central to discussions, rather than guaranteeing an agenda item at every meeting.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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2 Recommendation Accepted

Para 13

The pandemic has exposed shortcomings in the multilateral health system.

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government outlines specific actions it is taking to reform and strengthen the WHO, including co-sponsoring a resolution at the World Health Assembly, actively participating in the WHO Strengthening Working Group, and leading G7 efforts to push for a stronger early warning system and a new pandemic treaty, aligning with the IPPPR's goals.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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3 Recommendation Accepted

Para 14

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government highlights its active role in the WHO Working Group for Sustainable Financing, where it has led calls for increased member state fees and more flexible funding, and actively encourages other member states to follow the UK's lead.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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4 Recommendation Accepted in Part

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government supports increased transparency for WHO Emergency Committee deliberations but states it is awaiting evidence for the benefit of changing the terms of office for the Director-General before committing to that proposal.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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5 Recommendation Acknowledged

Para 16

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government agrees on the need for a transparent investigation, states it is working with partners to support the next phase, welcomes a new WHO advisory group, and suggests strengthening investigations 'will likely' involve a global framework and IHR amendments, 'may form part of' a new international instrument.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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6 Recommendation Accepted

Para 17

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government accepts the recommendation, stating that the FCDO works with DHSC to lobby for Taiwan's participation in WHO meetings and continues to work with likeminded countries to push for an invitation for Taiwan to observe the World Health Assembly.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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7 Recommendation Accepted in Part

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government states that the UK Health Security Agency is finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding with ECDC to formalize effective collaboration and that current access to the EWRS for COVID-19 will remain in place as long as determined necessary by both the UK and EU. However, it does not explicitly detail the terms under which ECDC membership was sought during EU exit negotiations.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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8 Recommendation Accepted

Para 28

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government outlines its commitment to global vaccine access, stating G7 leaders agreed to vaccinate the world by end of 2022. It confirms the UK has delivered 16 million doses, with more in process, and will donate a total of 100 million doses by June 2022.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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9 Recommendation Accepted in Part

Para 29

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government reiterates its commitment to donating 100 million vaccine doses by June 2022 and provides a detailed list of countries that have received doses, along with quantities and modalities. However, it does not commit to increasing the overall donation target or fully explain the detailed factors behind country selection, FCDO's role, inter-departmental coordination, or linkage to the Integrated Review objectives.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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10 Recommendation Accepted

Para 30

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government is working with COVAX and international partners to scale up vaccine manufacturing capacity in lower-income countries, providing technical support to initiatives like the African Union’s PAVM, and facilitating public-private partnerships within the existing IP framework. These efforts aim to see COVID-19 vaccines produced on the African continent in 2022.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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11 Recommendation Accepted in Part

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government highlights extensive existing work to counter misinformation, including a cross-Whitehall unit and global campaigns. While stating the BBC is editorially independent, it details significant FCDO funding provided to the BBC World Service, including £3 million specifically for tackling disinformation in 2021-22.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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12 Recommendation Accepted in Part

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government commits to publishing a Health Systems Strengthening Position Paper by year-end, which forms a central pillar of wider global health efforts. However, a decision on the publication of the overall strategic framework for Global Health will be made in due course, indicating a potential delay for the full strategy.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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13 Recommendation Accepted in Part

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

Recommendation

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

Government Response Summary

The government explains the temporary reduction of ODA to 0.5% due to economic impacts, forecasting a return to 0.7% by 2024-25. It refers to published annual reports and DevTracker for details on aid spending, but does not explicitly commit to reinstituting previous funding levels for health research programmes.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

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