§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the result has been of the support provided by his Department to the Africa Regional Office of the World Health Organisation for malaria and childhood illness activities. [148554]
§ Hilary BennDFID has agreed an £18 million, six-year project of support to WHO Africa Regional Office in 2002 and it is now at the early stages of implementation. We reviewed progress in 2003 and felt that that the project was well on track. All the countries supported under the project having developed Roll Back Malaria (RBM) and Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) plans.
Countries supported under the project have been able to use their malaria control plans to make applications to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). The plans have helped GFATM approve and release significant malaria grants for six countries in the region. WHO has established an inter-country team for the region, which has responded to a number of emergencies such as flood assessments in Malawi and Mozambique. At the same time it has helped to develop country capacity through training and strengthening health systems.
The IMCI strategy is being implemented in most countries of the region and seven are now implementing it in more than 50 per cent. of their districts. There have been major achievements in improving health worker skills, demonstrated through Health Facility Surveys and Multi-Country Evaluations. Attention will now be focused upon strengthening some of the health systems issues in the delivery of IMCI.
Finally, the WHO's Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) itself has used the project to increase its institutional capacity and has recruited additional staff to work on both RBM and IMCI.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the involvement of his Department has been in international forums which form strategies to reduce child mortality, with particular reference to(a) the Child Survival Working Group and (b) the Saving Newborn Lives Initiative. [148555]
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§ Hilary BennIt is generally accepted that a significant improvement will be needed if, the MDG target to reduce under five mortality rates by two thirds by 2015 is to be achieved globally. Challenges include: the HIV/ AIDS epidemic; economic decline and persistent poverty; inequality; under-resourced and poorly functioning health systems; and lack of progress in reducing the number of deaths of newborn babies.
In addition to country-level work, the Department for International Development makes significant contributions to UNFPA, UNICEF, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation and other international and national civil society groups to support their efforts to improve both maternal and child health. We contribute to global initiatives such as the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and Roll Back Malaria, which have helped revitalise interest in childhood diseases and substantially increased the resources directed to child health. We support implementation of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness Initiative with partners from the United Nations International Children's Fund, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development. This initiative is building the quality and quantity of child health care within countries. The UK is also part of the recently inaugurated High Level Forum on Health which plans to address challenges to achieving the health related Millennium Development Goals.
A Child Survival Partnership (formerly Working Group) is being proposed by a number of international agencies which will bring together national governments, international organisations, donors and civil society
to galvanise action at the global and national level aimed at revitalizing efforts to reach the under five mortality MDG target".The specific activities that the partnership will undertake have not yet been defined, although they are likely to include advocacy for increased resources to be devoted to child survival, and work to scale up cost-effective child survival interventions at country level. DFID has been asked to contribute to thinking on the partnerships structure and objectives. As with any new initiative, over time we will judge the level of our involvement on its ability to deliver on its objectives and contribution to meeting the MDG targets.
We have been working with the Saving Newborn Lives Initiative (a Save the Children US Gates Foundation funded project) and the World Health Organisation to develop a Framework for Neonatal Health, which will provide a series of practical and flexible tools to enable policy makers to develop coherent and integrated strategies to reduce newborn deaths.
DFID is also represented on the steering committee of the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health together with the World Bank, the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, and other organisations.