LONDON, UK — The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA), which holds the Chair of the Commonwealth Health Professions and Partnerships Alliance (CHPA), warmly welcomes the appointment of The Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and pays tribute to The Rt. Hon. David Lammy MP for his service.

As an organisation that has pioneered the delivery of high impact, low cost, sustainable global health development schemes in Africa and Asia with the generous support of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office over the last half decade, CPA asks the new Secretary of State to meet with organisations like ours to explore new models of delivering international aid programmes at a time of financial pressure.

Programmes which invest in enhancing workforce capability, developing the skills and expertise of professionals, and improving access to vital healthcare resources like preventative medicines can have an outsized impact on global health outcomes for a much lower cost than “traditional” aid programmes. CPA is a leader in delivering high impact, innovative and cost effective work in this space.

We urge the new Foreign Secretary to engage with key stakeholders to explore how the UK’s Official Development Assistant schemes can continue to save lives – directly around the world and indirectly in the UK through mitigation of infectious diseases and epidemics that respect no national border – despite the fiscal challenges the Government faces.