§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the(a) nature and (b) cost is of his Department's support for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. [148556]
§ Hilary BennDFID provides financial support to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI) and works closely with the partnership to further its objectives. The UK was on the Board of GAVI for two years to July 2003. We remain engaged with GAVI work on the evaluation of its support to country health systems, on the introduction of new vaccines, and on initiatives to overcome health system barriers to increasing immunisation. DFID has supported GAVI since its inception, initially with a grant of £3 million and then a grant of £35 million over five years (2001–05).