Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing to healthcare systems in countries affected by the Zika virus.

Mr Nick Hurd

The Department for International Development is working with the Department for Heath, who are leading the UK government’s response to Zika, and Public Health England and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This includes supporting the World Health Organisation in galvanising an effective international response.

DFID is adapting ongoing health programmes to focus on preparing for Zika. DFID has active health system strengthening programmes in many of our partner countries. DFID provides support to the health sector in a number of countries in South East Asia and the Commonwealth Caribbean.

These programmes aim to build the capacity of health systems to prevent, detect, and treat communicable disease outbreaks. These countries already respond to dengue, which is transmitted through the same vector as the Zika virus.