In early October, we took four Labour MPs on a delegation to Geneva to learn more about the key global health institutions based there and the current situation for their work.
The four MPs were all new to Parliament at the last election, but have backgrounds in healthcare or science and so are keen to apply their knowledge and experience to their new roles in Parliament. They are: Sojan Joseph, MP for Ashford, co-Chair of the APPG on TB; Kevin McKenna, MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey and soon to be Chair of the APPG on Vaccines for All; Lauren Sullivan MP for Gravesham, Chair of the APPG on Malaria and NTDs (Non-Communicable Diseases) and Dr. Beccy Cooper, MP for Worthing West and Chair of the APPG on Global Health Security.
Left to right: Lauren Sullivan MP, Kevin McKenna MP, Sojan Joseph MP, Dr Beccy Cooper MP.
We had a busy timetable of meetings, going between the World Health Organization (WHO) buildings, the Global Health Campus and the UK Mission to Geneva. At the UK Mission, we met Ruth Lawson, Deputy Permanent Representative for Global Health, to get an overview of the UK Government’s position, which is led by focusing on the functions that need to be done and ensuring they happen in the most effective way within the current budget restraints.
As we’re coming up to the replenishment summit of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, it was important to meet with the Tuberculosis, HIV, Malaria and Health Systems teams there, to hear about their work, and the importance of donors such as the UK Government pledging future funding at the summit. At the WHO, we had meetings with the Health Workforce Department, to discuss how they are addressing the movement of health workers from countries with critical shortages to those with greater resources, and the implications this has for global health systems.
The Stop TB Partnership talked to us about the ways in which they are working to ensure political commitment to end tuberculosis, working closely with both governments and donors. We were also able to meet up with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to discuss vaccine developments, how vaccines are provided, and how to ensure that all children receive vaccines, including for polio.
We wanted to learn more about the global health organisations (particularly for TB, malaria, vaccines and polio) and the changes that are happening as a result of the reductions in donor funding from the US, the UK and other countries. Many of the organisations are going through their strategies in light of the cuts to funding and are looking at restructures – having to lose staff – and considering how they can ensure that their work continues to support those people who are hardest to reach. The meetings also enabled the group to consider how the whole global health architecture could change in the future to adapt to the needs of countries and the funding available.
Now that the MPs are back in Parliament, they will be raising the issues they learnt about in parliamentary questions, talking to Ministers and in the media. In addition, the four APPGs the MPs chair will benefit from the increase in knowledge and connections that the MPs have made.