Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the Government plans to do to support reforms to research and development of pharmaceuticals at the World Health Organisaiton meeting in March 2016.

Mr Nick Hurd

The meeting at the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been postponed to May 2016 and arrangements about the meeting are at an early stage. DFID officials are engaging with WHO on their plans.

The UK Government priority is to see a Pooled Fund for Research and Development established with support from WHO Member States, especially those that have not yet provided funding for this type of work. The UK Government supports systems that separate the market incentives to produce a drug or vaccine, from the Research & Development process, prioritise public health need over profit and work in partnership with a wide range of different organisations, covering the public, private and philanthropic sectors. The UK is the second largest government supporter of product development partnerships, which prioritise need over profit, and have a proven track record in developing new products.