Malaria
Shailesh Vara asks what is being done on the development and roll-out of a vaccine against malaria?
Mr. Shailesh Vara (North-West Cambridgeshire) (Con): What steps his Department is taking to control malaria in developing countries. [319865]
The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Douglas Alexander): My hon. Friends the Minister of State and the Under-Secretary have both recently met Malaria No More to discuss the control of malaria in developing countries, and I regularly meet members of the Bond NGO network, which includes health and malaria-focused NGOs.
Mr. Vara: Given that the WHO estimates that almost half the world's population is at risk from malaria, and following the Secretary of State's earlier comments, will he inform the House what steps his Department is taking on the development and roll-out of a vaccine against malaria?
Mr. Alexander: I can give the assurance the hon. Gentleman is seeking. We are funding research, and we are also looking at the affordability of treatments, which is key. There is certainly common ground between us in recognising the scale of the challenge we are facing. It is estimated that almost 250 million people around the world fall severely ill with malaria each year. Almost 1 million die, mostly children, and one in five child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa is still from malaria, despite the fact that in many cases treatments are available, such as malarial-treated bed nets.