Author Archives: HM Government

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called for an intensification of trade between Britain and Nigeria on the second of a two day visit to the West African country, underlining the close friendship between both countries. He also dedicated a new Commonwealth war memorial, recognising the sacrifice of thousands of Nigerian troops in the First and Second World Wars, and highlighted British military support for Nigerian efforts to protect international shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, now one of the most dangerous areas in the world for piracy.

UK bilateral trade with Nigeria is forecast to be £7 billion annually by 2030 but the Foreign Secretary has used a visit to Lagos, the country’s commercial capital, to encourage more British investment in Nigeria. Mr Johnson visited Nigeria’s Guinness brewery, majority owned by Diageo, which imports all of its barley from the UK and exports Guinness Extra across the world.

While in Lagos, Mr Johnson also met British service personnel, including Royal Marines, from the resident British Military Advisory and Training Team who in the last 12 months have trained more than 300 Nigerian Naval personnel, including members of the Nigerian Special Boat Service.

There were more than 120 pirate attacks reported in the Gulf of Guinea last year, costing around US$800 million, and so far this year 43 hostages of various nationalities have been taken. More than £6 billion of West African trade with the UK and around 15% of oil imported to the UK moves through the Gulf of Guinea annually.

Earlier today in Abuja, Mr Johnson formally dedicated a new Commonwealth war memorial at the National Military Cemetery. Mr Johnson also held high level talks with Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and urged the Nigerian Government to fulfil its responsibilities in the fight against Boko Haram.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Nigeria is a country of huge promise and big ambitions. British businesses such as Diageo and Unilever are thriving here and I want to see even more British companies succeeding in Nigeria, and more Nigerian companies in Britain.

The potential of Nigeria’s markets, people and natural resources is enormous and helping to secure a prosperous future for our two countries is a key part of our Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting next year.

He added:

Our military links are close and longstanding. I am honoured to have dedicated the new Commonwealth war memorial to the memory of the thousands of Nigerians who fought side-by-side with Britain in the First and Second World Wars.

And today, British military training is helping Nigeria to take on Boko Haram and to fight back against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. This close military cooperation is the cornerstone of our joint efforts to defeat terror and to create the conditions for peace, stability and prosperity

The Foreign Secretary was travelling on a joint visit to Nigeria with International Development Secretary Priti Patel.

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Following North Korea’s missile launch over Japan on 28 August, Minister for Asia & the Pacific, Mark Field, summoned the DPRK ambassador.

After the meeting, he said:

I summoned the North Korean ambassador to the Foreign Office today and made clear how strongly the UK condemns the regime’s launch of an intermediate range missile over Japan on 28 August.

Once again, North Korea’s reckless actions violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions and threaten international security. The UK will work with our partners and allies to tackle this threat.

I urge the regime to end its illegal pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missiles and return to dialogue with the international community.

Further information

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Data published today (31 August 2017) by Public Health England (PHE) has shown that the flu vaccine nasal spray reduced the risk of vaccinated children getting flu by 65.8% in the 2016 to 2017 season in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Effectiveness of flu vaccine in younger adults aged 18 to 64 years reduced the risk of flu by 40.6% among those who received the vaccine in the 2016 to 2017 season, which is within the range we would typically expect to see.

The UK programme plans to offer flu vaccine to all children aged 2 to 11 years with the aim of providing both direct protection to those children who have been vaccinated, but also by reducing their risk of infecting others. This will indirectly protect other vulnerable members of the population such as those with weakened immune systems and the elderly.

The flu strain and the flu vaccine, recommended by the World Health Organization, changes every year and the flu vaccine generally provides an important level of protection. This year we did not find that the vaccine was significantly effective in protecting against influenza for the over-65 population. This highlights the importance of the vaccine programme in children, which is intended to indirectly protect other vulnerable members of the community, as well as the children themselves.

Further action can be taken to mitigate flu such as influenza antiviral treatment and prophylaxis. New flu vaccines are also being developed, which may provide better protection for the elderly.

Jenny Harries, Deputy Medical Director for Public Health England (PHE) said:

It is good news that last winter children were particularly well protected against flu with the vaccine nasal spray. We know children can spread flu more than others and if we can keep them well it means that the infection is less likely to pass to those who are at high risk. We also saw the risk of flu fall by over 40% in vaccinated adults under 65 allowing more people to stay well last winter.

For the vast majority of us flu passes reasonably quickly, but for some, it can be extremely serious and even fatal. Vaccines are the best defence we have against flu and not only protect people who have received the vaccine but also those around them.

Achieving high coverage in children with a vaccine which has been shown to work well will offer those over 65 protection from flu, even though we did not find that the vaccine offered significant protection in this age group.

The lower effectiveness in the older population this season highlights the need to continue to expand the programme among the young, as by protecting them, we can also protect those at risk of severe disease.

The childhood flu vaccine programme is being expanded to include children in school year 4 in 2017 to 2018. Also, 4 year olds, who were previously offered flu vaccination in general practice, will now be offered it at school in reception class. So all children from reception class through to year 4 will be offered flu vaccination in the forthcoming season.

The latest data on flu effectiveness is based on contributions submitted by PHE, Public Health Wales, Health Protection Scotland, the Public Health Agency of Northern Ireland and RCGP.

The flu vaccine nasal spray used in the children’s programme is the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV). The vaccine used in the adult programme is ‘inactivated’ vaccine. It is crucial that people who are eligible for flu vaccination get vaccinated this coming season.

The flu virus continually changes and evolves – it is unpredictable. In February each year, the World Health Organisation recommends the strains of flu virus that should be included in the flu vaccine for the Northern hemisphere for the forthcoming season. These strains are those predicted to circulate in the coming season. There is always the possibility that the virus will change after the point at which vaccine strain selection has taken place, although this is unusual

Each season, the effectiveness of the vaccine will vary slightly due to a number of factors such as the age group mainly affected, the dominant circulating strain and the composition of the influenza vaccine that particular season.

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