Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-05-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions have taken place between the Department of Health and the Department for International Development regarding the draft Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis 2016–2021.
Baroness Verma
The UK Government welcomes the development of this strategy for preventing, diagnosing and treating viral hepatitis. DFID works very closely with the Department of Health and we have a joint delegation to the World Health Assembly.
DFID supports improving the access to clean and safe water and hygiene promotion to reduce the risk of transmission of hepatitis A and E. We are the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which increases access to immunisation in low income countries. This includes protection against hepatitis B. The UK supports UNITAID, which is working to improve access to better diagnostics for Hepatits C and we are supporting the Clinton Health Access Initiative to reduce prices and increase access to new treatments. In addition DFID supports comprehensive harm reduction programmes and strategies through its support to the Global Fund, which help reduce transmission of both HIV and Hepatitis C.
