Dr Beccy Cooper

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I will be brief, as I appreciate there is not much time left. I wanted to speak in today’s debate because, as a public health consultant who has worked in international development for 20 years, I have watched the Global Fund and have not always been its greatest fan, I have to say. It has employed funding through vertical programmes for AIDS, TB and malaria. However, I stand corrected—politicians do not say that very often, but I do. I have seen the great work that the Global Fund has done. I have understood how it has taken a large amount of donor funding and put it to excellent use, resulting in serious reductions in three major infectious disease scourges of our time, including malaria, which 21 countries are now free of, thanks in major part to the Global Fund. It is not just about the three major diseases that the Global Fund works on; it is about health systems strengthening, which is where it has won my heart. It now understands that we cannot just have vertical health programmes to address those three major scourges; we have to invest in systems strengthening. I thank my friend who secured this debate, the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers). He talked about the Fleming Fund. As it comes to a close, we can address antimicrobial resistance through the Global Fund’s work on systems strengthening. I will conclude by talking about the UK pledge coming up imminently. In 2022, we pledged £1 billion. I am incredibly proud of the leadership the United Kingdom has shown in global health, and I very much hope—as has been alluded to, with regard to our co-hosting in South Africa—that we continue to show that leadership. I put on record that a potential 15% cut to that £1 billion would result in 220,000 fewer lives saved; 270,000 fewer people provided with antiretroviral treatment; 240,000 fewer people provided with tuberculosis treatment and care; and 20 million fewer people having access to mosquito nets, which provide much needed protection to children and families from this absolutely terrible disease. We have led the way in global health and we have been a systems leader. Do not get me wrong: this is not simply about funding—but a strong pledge by the UK at this eighth replenishment will absolutely signal that the UK remains dedicated to global health, and how important it is to our health systems as well as to the rest of the world.