§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) if she will list those(a) countries and (b) organisations her Department financially supports for the provision of (i) ultrasound and (ii) other pre-natal scanning technology; and how much is given to each such country and organisation;[101497]
(2) what financial support her Department gives for the provision of (a) ultrasound and (b) other pre-natal scanning technology.[101496]
§ Clare ShortDFID does not support any projects or programmes with the specific objective of providing prenatal scanning technology to health facilities. At country level, DFID supports maternal health services through safe motherhood programmes, and as a part of wider health sector development. While in some circumstances improving the quality of maternal health care may include the provision of pre-natal scanning, use of such advanced technologies in most of the DFID focus countries would not be the most appropriate use of scarce resources, and therefore would not be provided.
My Department also funds other organisations involved in maternal health care, including the International Planned Parenthood Association (IPPF) and the United Nations Family Planning Association (UNFPA). These organisations, when appropriate, provide equipment for pre-natal scanning to the antenatal care facilities they support in order to better diagnose and manage complications of pregnancy. Because the funding they receive from DFID is in the form of a core contribution, it is not possible to identify how much (if any) is channelled into provision of scanning equipment.