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21 Jan 2004 : Column 1298W—continued
Jharkand
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department are involved in development work in the Indian state of Jharkand. [149164]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: We have agreed with the Union Government to working closely with four focus states committed to poverty reduction, including on their programmes of fiscal and public sector reform, increasing access to basic health, education, and urban services for the poor and empowerment of the marginalised. Although Jharkand is not one of DFID's focus states, through DFID India's National Programme we support the efforts of the Union Government and civil society nationwide. For example, Jharkand is covered by DFID support for basic education, maternal and child health and civil society; Jharkand is also a major beneficiary of DFID's Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme.
Low-income Countries
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of his Department's bilateral programme has gone to low-income countries in each of the last six years. [149068]
Hilary Benn: The information requested is shown in the following table. Note that it can be measured in a number of ways and the figures corresponding to the target in DFID's Public Service Agreement are those in the middle category i.e. all country specific bilateral assistance excluding humanitarian assistance.
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country Specific: All Recipient Countries | ||||||
| Low Income Countries | 65 | 73 | 67 | 76 | 78 | 80 |
| Country Specific: All Recipient Countries(excluding Humanitarian Assistance | ||||||
| Low Income Countries | 67 | 72 | 75 | 78 | 78 | 80 |
| Country Specific: Developing Countries only(29) | ||||||
| Low Income Countries | 72 | 78 | 71 | 79 | 82 | 84 |
(28) Countries are classified using 1998 GNI per capita estimates used by the DAC for aid flows up to 2002. This table covers only bilateral aid that can be attributed to individual countries. Low Income Countries are those with a GNI per capita in 1998 below $760.
(29) This includes all countries defined as developing by DAC, i.e. those on Part I of the DAC list of recipient countries.
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Further details can be found in Table 4 of our annual publication 'Statistics on International Development', a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Malaria
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support the United Kingdom will give developing countries to enact the World Health Organisation's recommendation that artemisinin-based combination therapy should be used in malaria outbreaks to prevent the disease developing further resistance to treatment. [149219]
Hilary Benn: Artemisinin (or Artesunate) is a naturally occurring substance that has been used in China in the treatment of malaria for a long period of time. It can be used by itself, but is more useful when combined with other effective anti-malarials as it enhances their useful life by decreasing the possibility of drug resistance. The World Health Organisation and Roll Back Malaria recommend the use of combined therapies as the first option wherever possible.
The Department for International Development has committed £48 million to Roll Back Malaria (RBM) over a four and a half year period (September 1999—March 2004). RBM provides coordinated support for sustainable action against malaria. This includes providing technical support to Governments to ensure that their anti-malarial drug policies enable those suffering from malaria to get early treatment and to access affordable and appropriate medicines. Their advice covers the use of artemisinin- based combination therapies. As an active partner of RBM, my Department works to ensure that RBM provides sound evidence based support for the effective use of resources, including those available from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to which we have committed a total of US$280 million.
DFID has also engaged more directly in partnerships with industry to transform research into drugs. We recently worked with GlaxoSmithKline, the WHO programme on Tropical Diseases Research and Liverpool University in the development of a cheap new drug called LAPDAP. In order to make the best use of LAPDAP, further research to combine it with artemisinin is being undertaken, managed under an umbrella organisation called the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), which DFID also supports. MMV has a portfolio of projects, which include the development of a number of artemisinin-based combination therapies using a variety of drugs. DFID is funding MMV with £1 million per year for five years. Since its inception in 1999 MMV has demonstrated significant progress towards reaching its objective of two new drugs in the next 10 years.
Artemisinin-based therapies are, like many new treatments, relatively expensive. This highlights the need for the UK Government to work with others to reduce the cost of effective new drugs. The Prime Minister's high-level Working Group on Increasing Access to Essential Medicines in the Developing World recommended differential pricing of essential medicines for the developing world. My Department is working with other Government Departments to secure greater
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international commitment to affordable pricing. The Government worked with G8 colleagues at last year's Evian summit to secure commitment to action on this issue in line with the Working Group's recommendations.
Millennium Development Goals
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made by each country in meeting the millennium development goal to halve the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day by 2015. [149062]
Hilary Benn: Comparable data needed to assess trends in the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day are available only at the regional level. The most recent data and estimates for 2015 are as follows.
| 1990 | 2000 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Asia and Pacific | 29.4 | 14.5 | 2.3 |
| Europe and Central Asia | 1.4 | 4.2 | 1.3 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 11.0 | 10.8 | 7.6 |
| Middle East and North Africa | 2.1 | 2.8 | 1.2 |
| South Asia | 41.5 | 31.9 | 16.4 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 47.4 | 49.0 | 42.3 |
| Total | 28.3 | 21.6 | 12.5 |
Source:
World Bank, Global Economic Prospects 2004
It is clear from these figures that while the global picture of income poverty improved over the 1990s and we are likely to reach the target overall, progress across regions varies. The following table sets out the latest available information on the proportion of the population below $1 a day by country 1 .
(30) Countries without any internationally comparable data have been excluded from the table.
(31) The percentage of the population living below the commonly used international $1 a day standard, measured in 1993 international prices and adjusted for local currency using purchasing power parities.
Source:
World Bank "2003 World Development Indicators"
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Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the percentage change between 1990 and 2003 was in the numbers of people below the minimum level of dietary energy consumption in each country covered by the millennium development goals. [149063]
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Hilary Benn: The information we have ready access to relates to the percentage of people below minimum levels of dietary energy consumption not absolute numbers and is not available for all countries 1 . The most recent information relates to the period 1998–2000. The available information and the change over the period is given in the following table.
- 1 Countries without any internationally comparable data have been excluded from the table.
(32) not available
Source:
World Development Indicators 2003
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Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made by each country in meeting the millennium development goals to halve between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. [149064]
Hilary Benn: Progress towards the hunger target varies between countries. According to the UN Human Development Report 2003 in 21 countries a larger proportion of people are going hungry than in 1990. Elsewhere progress is being made, such as in the three Sub-Saharan Africa countries with the highest proportions of people suffering from hunger in 1990 (Mozambique, Angola and Chad) where estimates of hunger have dropped considerably.
I refer the hon. Member to my other answer [UIN 149063] for the most recent trend data of the percentage of people below minimum levels of dietary energy consumption.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the change was between 1990 and 2003 in the share of the poorest quintile in national consumption in each country covered by the millennium development goals. [149066]
Hilary Benn: Quintile shares are calculated from income and consumption surveys. Developing countries carry out such surveys relatively infrequently and the information available does not allow us to examine changes between 1990 and 2003. The following table gives the latest statistics available by country and the year to which it refers 1 .
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Source:
World Development Indicators 2003
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Hilary Benn: Generally, progress towards the 2015 target has been good but huge challenges still remain. The Education For All Global Monitoring Report identifies 36 countries at serious risk of not achieving the goal, of which 22 are in sub-Saharan Africa. There is increased evidence since the World Education Forum in April 2000, that many countries now have better education sector policies for making progress. Increased international support, including our own commitment of £1 billion over the period 2002–07, is helping African Governments to improve primary school enrolment.
A comprehensive table listing the primary net enrolment ratio for each country where comparable data is available can be found in Table 5 in the statistical annex of the recent Education For All Global Monitoring Report (www.efareport.unesco.org).
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