Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Rejected
At a strategic level, we urge the PM and the Government to be more ambitious...
Recommendation
At a strategic level, we urge the PM and the Government to be more ambitious for the UK’s G7 Presidency than simply calling for better cooperation in spotting, preventing and fighting another pandemic more effectively. Rather, we recommend the Government lead a charge towards the establishment of a holistic global health and nutrition strategy based around achieving Sustainable Development Goal Three (ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages) more broadly. This would put the world in a position to respond effectively to the next global health challenge, and the one after that, whatever these turn out to be—rather than just the last one we struggled with. (Paragraph 100) Humanitarian crises monitoring: impact of coronavirus (interim findings) 37
Government response summary AI-generated
The government rejects the committee's view that ODA funding should be diverted from COVID-19 R&D. It highlights existing commitments to global health, including funding for Gavi and the Global Fund, without committing to lead a new holistic global health and nutrition strategy during its G7 Presidency.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
COVID-19 underlines the urgency of making progress on the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The Government has ambitious strategic objectives on global health, including manifesto commitments on ending preventable deaths of mothers, new- borns and children by 2030, and leading the way in eradicating Ebola and malaria. Ending preventable deaths will require promoting the integration of essential health services that are sometimes neglected, such as nutrition services to prevent and treat malnutrition. The 2021 UK G7 Presidency is an opportunity to shape support for the recovery from COVID-19, including the strengthening of global health systems and better preparedness and response to future pandemics and other health threats. A focus of our Presidency 10 Fifth Special Report of Session 2019–21 will be working with our global partners to implement the Prime Minister’s five-point plan to strengthen global health security. The Government will also use other multilateral fora—the G20, UN and COP26—along with bilateral engagement with key stakeholders to complement work within the G7 and drive collective action and the level of ambition on global health. The health-related SDG’s and the existing strategies for their achievement set out a framework for global action. This includes the WHO’s 13th General Programme of Work, which provides a framework for the WHO and countries to spearhead progress on SDG3. The WHO Programme of Work also underlines the importance of national and regional engagement and ownership for implementation. The Government is also working with its partners to ensure lessons are learned from the international response to COVID-19, including those from the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR) and reports of the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme and the International Health Regulations Review Committee. We will look at how our approach should evolve in light of the lessons from the pandemic and the outcomes from the Integrated Review.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗