The Bishop of London received the following written answer on 15th July 2021:
The Lord Bishop of London asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have (1) to collect, and (2) to report, data on the number of people affected by long-COVID alongside the data on hospitalisations and death.
Continue reading “Bishop of London asks about data on long-COVID”The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on access to healthy food for children in low income households on 13th July 2021, following a question on support for people receiving universal credit:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I am saddened to hear about the phasing out of the £20 uplift in universal credit. Her Majesty’s Government have made a very positive step towards tackling childhood obesity with plans to ban junk food adverts before 9 pm but there is a clear link between poverty and obesity, particularly where financial constraints make cheap, high-calorie food more affordable than healthy alternatives. How then do the Government aim to improve access to healthy food for those on universal credit?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about access to healthy food for children in low income households”The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on the COVID-19 regulations around singing during worship on 30th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, bearing in mind that on Monday in the other place the new Health Secretary said he hoped that church congregations would soon be able to sing together, could the Minister please give us some clarity on this and say what plans the Government have now to review the research on congregational singing with the use of face coverings, given that singing is not an add-on to worship but integral to it?
Continue reading “Bishop of Gloucester asks about regulations around singing during worship”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 21st June 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to raise the issue of global vaccine equity at the upcoming G7 meeting in Falmouth.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con, Foreign Office): The UK is committed to rapid, equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. We are among the largest donors to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), committing £548 million, which through match-funding leveraged $1 billion from other donors in 2020. This support to COVAX has been critical to it supplying COVID-19 vaccines to over 125 countries and economies. The UK’s investment in developing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine also represents a critical contribution to global vaccination efforts, with 450 million doses having been delivered globally at cost so far.
The UK’s G7 Presidency is also championing equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to help the world fight and build back better from this pandemic. The UK has committed to sharing 100 million vaccine doses by June 2022, with the majority going to OVAX. We welcome the commitments made by our G7 partners to this shared goal, and look forward to discussing how we can work together to progress this agenda further.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the WHO Director-General’s remarks on 9 April that bi-lateral vaccine donations exacerbated global vaccine inequality, how many vaccines they have donated (1) to individual nations, and (2) to the COVAX programme; and what plans they have to support to the COVAX initiative further.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK remains committed to equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, and the Prime Minister has called on G7 leaders to vaccinate the world by the end of next year. As the multilateral mechanism set up to support international cooperation on vaccines, COVAX remains best-placed in allocating vaccines fairly and effectively.
The UK was one of the earliest and largest donors to COVAX, donating £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment. Our early funding gave COVAX the purchase power it needed to secure deals with manufacturers to supply internationally-approved vaccines for up to 92 low and middle income countries. So far, COVAX has helped deliver over 81 million doses to 129 countries and territories. The UK is also among the largest donors to the ACT-Accelerator, committing up to £813 million of UK aid to partners for the development and distribution of vaccines, treatments, and tests in developing countries, including £250 million of core funding to the Coalition for Pandemic Preparedness (CEPI) in 2020 to support its work to accelerate the development of, and access to vaccines. We will continue to discuss this issue with our G7 partners, and will issue details of the quantities and timeframe for UK sharing of vaccine doses soon.
During a discussion on the prevalence of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADs) on 9th June 2021, the Bishop of Carlisle asked a question on the possibility of defibrillators being made more widely available as a preventative measure:
The Lord Bishop of Carlisle: My Lords, does the Minister concur with the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes Foundation that for the 50% of SADS deaths that show no prior warning signs, rapid access to automatic external defibrillators—AEDs—is the only way to prevent many tragedies occurring? If so, do Her Majesty’s Government have any plans for expanding the number of AEDs available throughout the country, especially at sporting venues?
Continue reading “Bishop of Carlisle asks about extension of access to defibrillators to prevent Sudden Adult Death Syndrome”The Bishop of Carlisle asked a question on the importance of understanding links between obesity and mental health conditions on 29th May 2021, during a discussion on the government’s health policies:
The Lord Bishop of Carlisle: My Lords, I too echo all the appreciative comments made about the Lord Speaker. Does the Minister agree that any interventions to address obesity must take account of the complex relationship between mental health and obesity? For example, people who are obese have a 55% increased risk of developing depression over time, and people living with depression have a 58% increased risk of becoming obese. Can we ensure that attempts to remedy one problem do not exacerbate the other?
Continue reading “Bishop of Carlisle asks about relationship between obesity and mental health”The Bishop of London received the following written answer on 27th April 2024:
The Lord Bishop of London asked Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish a report on the work to reduce health inequalities around maternal mortality rates, in particular the higher rate of death in childbirth for Black women, led by Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE; and what action will be taken as a result of this report.
Continue reading “Bishop of London asks about maternal mortality rates”
The Bishop of Carlisle received the following written answer on 26th April 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Carlisle asked Her Majesty’s Government when they will allocate the remainder of the £40 million pledged to brain cancer research announced in May 2018.
Continue reading “Bishop of Carlisle asks about funding for brain cancer research”The Bishop of London received the following written answer on 26th April 2021:
The Lord Bishop of London asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the breakdown by (1) protected characteristic, and (2) socio-economic background, of the patients who choose to opt out of surgery following the waiting list validation process.
Lord Bethell (Con, DHSC): No formal assessment has been made. Data on protected characteristics and socio-economic background is not collected centrally.
The Bishop of London asked a question on the potential for school kitchens to be used as community kitchens to tackle obesity in underserved areas on 21st April 2021, during a debate on reported correlations between obesity rates and COVID-19 deaths:
The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, the reduced use of school space during lockdown highlighted an opportunity for us to make use of school kitchens as community kitchens. This holds real potential for addressing multiple issues such as poverty, obesity, lack of food or loneliness, all at one time. Will the Government consider supporting school kitchens to become community kitchens when not in use by students in order to tackle obesity in underserved neighbourhoods where people often have limited choices in their nutritional options?
Continue reading “Bishop of London asks about development of community kitchens to combat obesity”
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