Email your MP: protect UK aid

When aid for healthcare stops, diseases don’t.

But the Government is planning to slash overseas aid by almost half – putting your health at risk by fast-tracking deadly diseases to the UK.

Right now, of the UK's overall budget, less than 1p in every £1 goes to aid. But those funds are helping vaccinate children, train health workers, treat diseases like HIV/AIDS and TB; and monitor for outbreaks of Covid-19, Ebola, and Mpox. Cutting it leaves all of us more vulnerable to infectious diseases.

This short-sighted decision could usher in the next pandemic. But it’s not set in stone yet. If enough of us speak up to oppose cuts to vital healthcare aid, we can get the Government to think again. But, with all of our health on the line, we need to act NOW.

Tell your MP: protect vital healthcare aid, protect us all. Send your email now in just a few clicks.

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Your Message:

Dear ,

I am deeply disappointed by the Prime Minister's recent announcement that the aid budget will be cut to 0.3% of GNI. This is a £5.5 billion drop in the aid budget on top of cuts introduced in 2021, when the budget was slashed from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI in 2021.

Strengthening our defence should not come at the expense of international aid.  Britain’s former army chief, Gen Lord Dannatt has described the decision to drastically slash the aid budget as shortsighted and dangerously counterproductive. His argument is that if we cut aid, we will be forced to deploy military resources in areas where we could have mitigated instability through targeted development.

Aid isn’t just about making us safer, it’s protecting all of our health, too. Global health programmes to vaccinate children, train health workers and monitor diseases like Covid-19, Ebola, Mpox and HIV/AIDS help shield us all from outbreaks that can spiral into pandemics. If funding is cut from these vital health programmes, we will pay the price right here in the UK.

New analysis from the ONE Campaign demonstrates the devastating consequences of the UK’s decision to drastically reduce the aid budget. The analysis reveals the potential outcomes if the planned 40% reduction in UK aid is distributed evenly across global health and food programmes:

37,888,889 fewer children immunised against measles, polio, rotavirus and other deadly diseases through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – equivalent to more than twice the entire child population of the UK.

601,130 fewer lives saved due to reductions in support to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, more than the entire population of Glasgow.

Ultimately, these cuts will leave us all more vulnerable to infectious diseases. The likelihood of another pandemic is high, but investing a tiny part of the UK budget in overseas aid could make all the difference in preventing it.
Less than one penny in every pound of government spending goes on aid – less than a fifth of what we already spend on defence.

Deep and sudden cuts will create huge problems for the delivery of vital health services, humanitarian assistance, and programmes to deal with the impact of conflict and climate change.

The government must look at other ways to fund this. The UK’s health depends on it.

I would be extremely grateful if you could write to the Chancellor and Prime Minister to raise these concerns and let me know what they say.

There will be a debate in Westminster Hall on Thursday 15th of May and I ask you to attend and speak in support of stopping these cuts. 
 
Thank you for your time and willingness to engage on this critical issue. I look forward to hearing from you.

Email your MP: protect UK aid

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