Shortage of medicines in Malawi

That this House notes with concerns reports from Malawi that a serious shortage of pharmaceutical drugs has led to the closure of operating theatres, clinics, health care centres, and many patients, including pregnant women, going without effective treatment; further notes that the Anaesthesia Association of Malawi described the situation an emergency, that the Chief Medical Adviser to the British Red Cross, Dr Barry Klaassen, is among those calling for urgent action to what he describes as a maternal humanitarian crisis in Malawi; further notes that the Society of Medical Doctors in Malawi has said that the lives of women requiring caesarean sections are at risk due to the lack of suitable anaesthetics, and that reports suggest over a third of Malawi’s 28 districts have completely run out of many drugs; believes that while there have been long-standing concerns about the management of Malawi’s Central Medical Stores, the current acute shortages require emergency intervention; notes with regret that the latest accounts document from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office suggest a 50 per cent. cut in UK aid funding to that country in the next financial year; and calls on the Government to work with stakeholders in the UK and Malawi to improve the sustainable supply and distribution of pharmaceutical drugs in that country.