§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the proposals to increase health aid budgets contained in the World Health Organisation's report by the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, published on 20 December; and what role her Department has played in the report's distribution in the United Kingdom and in British overseas territories and embassies. [54166]
§ Clare ShortWe welcome the broad messages of the Commission for Macroeconomics (CMH) report. It has provided clear evidence that investing in health is far more important for economic development and wider poverty reduction than was previously understood, and we embrace the call for extra resources from both donors and developing countries.
I hosted the worldwide launch of the CMH report at the Department for International Development headquarters in December. Later this month I shall be opening a conference (organised and part funded by my Department) to disseminate the messages of the report to the global audience and plan how to take these findings forward.