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Baroness Boothroyd: My Lords, on the Government's own admission, the 14.6 million courses of antiviral drugs will not be available until the end of 2006 at the earliest and even then is an inadequate supply. Are the Government either nationally or internationally seeking to negotiate the patent held by Roche of Switzerland so that the drug Tamiflu can be manufactured in this country and meet our national needs here?
Lord Warner: My Lords, it is utterly untrue that we are not planning to have enough Tamiflu available to meet the estimate of 25 per cent infection in a pandemic. The 14.6 million doses that will be available, as I said, next September—not the end of 2006—will meet that requirement. It is a matter for
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Roche to ensure that its products are manufactured satisfactorily and safely in the interests of patients and it will be for Roche to consider—it has indicated willingness to consider—any proposals from others to undertake the manufacture of its product.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes: My Lords, I know that the Minister replied to a great many points on this matter yesterday, but he did not reply to the question put by my noble friend Earl Howe about why no additional face masks are being ordered in this country. I know that the Minister said that human-to-human transfer had not occurred, but if there were to be a pandemic that would be one of the methods of transmission. Countries such as France and Australia are stockpiling additional face masks. Why are additional face masks not being considered here, as far as I am aware?
Lord Warner: My Lords, my knowledge in this area has not changed from yesterday. I promised to write to the noble Earl about that particular issue and I will be doing so as quickly as possible.
Baroness Barker: My Lords, in the Government strategy, PCTs have been advised to plan for a potential 25 per cent incidence of flu in their total population. Will that be reflected in the baseline budgets for 2006 for PCTs? Is there a procedure in place whereby if a PCT has an extremely high incidence of the flu, because of the demographic profile that it serves, it can increase beyond the 25 per cent if necessary?
Lord Warner: My Lords, as the noble Baroness knows, PCTs have had their allocations for this year, next year and for the year after. They represent a 9 per cent plus cash increase in their allocations for each of those years. We are assuming that PCTs will be able to manage their affairs successfully in dealing with any possible flu outbreak, as they have done in the past.
Lord Wedderburn of Charlton: My Lords, would my noble friend agree that what is happening on eBay with regard to Tamiflu is yet another unacceptable face of the market?
Lord Warner: My Lords, I did not consult eBay before I came to the House, but I will certainly look into the matter.
Lord Roberts of Conwy: My Lords, will the Minister confirm my understanding that the Government do not plan to hold any of the stockpile in Wales? Why is that?
Lord Warner: My Lords, the noble Lord will know that health is a devolved matter. However, I will certainly look within the bounds of security and confidentiality as to precisely where the Tamiflu is to be stockpiled and write to him in so far as I can to answer his question.
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Lord Campbell-Savours: My Lords, my noble friend suggested that it was for Roche to respond to any requests from the United Kingdom or to initiate discussions with a view to production in the United Kingdom. Why does not the department sponsor those discussions with a view to ensuring that there is production in the United Kingdom?
Lord Warner: My Lords, I repeat that we have put in place arrangements to produce a stockpile of some 14 million doses of antivirals by next September. That dosage is consistent with the estimate in the UK's contingency plan for a 25 per cent infection rate in a pandemic. That action is in hand. I understand that in this case Roche has expressed a willingness to consider an application from an Indian company to manufacture its product, provided that quality standards are met, and it is waiting to hear an approach from that country. We do not see the need to take steps at this time. We are already well on the path to meeting the stockpile requirements that we set out in the UK's contingency plan.
Climate Change
3.5 pm
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the outcome of the discussions on climate change held at the European Union Council of Environment Ministers held on 17 October.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Bach): My Lords, the EU agreed its negotiating strategy for the forthcoming Montreal conference. Its priority is to get the Kyoto Protocol off to a good start and ensure that it is operating efficiently. The EU confirmed its determination to meets its commitments under the UN Framework Convention and Protocol, including those on funding to assist developing countries. The EU also set an objective to launch discussions on a process to determine further action after the Kyoto Protocol first commitment period.
Lord Dykes: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer, presumably confirming, after the Prime Minister's wobble earlier this year in the face of President Bush and the Halliburtonian view of climate change, that the Government are now fully on board with a need to set radical and ambitious targets at the Montreal conference. Can the Minister add to his initial Answer by specifying what they will do on emission coefficients and other important parameters?
Lord Bach: My Lords, there was no wobble by the Prime Minister at all. He answered a question in the United States to the following effect:
"I do not think that all the answers lie in developing the science and technology, but I do think that there is no way we are going to tackle this problem unless we develop the science and technology capable of doing it".
I do not think that anyone in the House would disagree with that. His emphasis on climate change during our presidencies of the G8 and the EU has been widely praised even by members of the noble Lord's party.
There is much work to do so far as the Montreal conference is concerned. We believe strongly that the United Nations remains the place to agree future frameworks. We look forward to the historic first meeting of the parties to the protocol and the adoption of the Marrakech accords, including the immediate implementation of the compliance mechanism, but there is a huge amount of work to do for the future.
Lord Dixon-Smith: My Lords, will the Minister say what sums of money the United Kingdom has contributed to developing countries each year since the commitment made in Bonn in July 2001 by developed countries to make $410 million per annum available to help developing countries deal with global warming?
Lord Bach: My Lords, we work carefully with developing countries on climate change, on which there has been unprecedented scientific, political and public debate this year. I am afraid that I do not have at my fingertips the figures that the noble Lord requests. However, I shall write to him with them.
Lord Judd: My Lords, will my noble friend agree that however real and dangerous the threat of global terrorism, as matters stand, the consequences of climate change are likely to bring about far more death, suffering, displacement of people and economic damage than terrorism ever will? Will my noble friend agree that a priority for us all must be to persuade our friends and allies that they must give to the stand against the consequences of global warming the same determination and priority as they give to the fight against terrorism?
Lord Bach: My Lords, I agree that this is perhaps the most important issue that faces our world. The issue is to make sure that the general public around the world understand that too. We believe that, during our presidency, we have succeeded in focusing US attention on energy and climate issues. There are, indeed, signs that opinions in the US have moved and are moving, but as yet there have not been corresponding changes in policy. However, we look with interest at what has come from American business and from American state-level and city-level mayors who have shown a real interest in targeting climate change.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: My Lords, the Minister talks of changing attitudes of people throughout the world. However, he must accept that changing the attitude of people in this country is a matter that the Government can do something about. So far, there has been little done to inform people about what they can do in their own life. Do the Government plan to do considerably more to make the matter easy for people to understand and act upon?
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