It’s an honour to welcome you all to this Summit on behalf of the UK Government.

We gather at a time of great instability and uncertainty in the wake of a horrific act of aggression on this continent.

But we should take some inspiration from the way that so much of the world has come together to support the people of Ukraine.

Showing the same sense of common purpose and shared solidarity that was on display throughout the pandemic. The success story of Covid vaccines is just one example showing how, when we apply all our efforts and energy to a single goal barriers that once seemed insurmountable can fall away.

I remember how when the pandemic first began there were prominent voices saying that it would take a decade before we could start putting jabs in arms.

But now, just two years on, almost five billion people have had the protection of at least one Covid vaccine dose.

This has been a true global effort – for instance the Pfizer vaccine contains some 280 different components from nineteen different countries.

Thanks to this work across borders, safe and effective vaccines were developed at an incredible pace including by building on earlier work funded by the UK and CEPI to develop the vaccine for MERS.

This shows the importance of learning from previous scientific advances and the rapid progress that can be made when Governments, and industry and academia all co-operate together and work across the world.

Today, on International Women’s Day I also want to take a moment to remember the contribution of incredible scientists like Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert who is here with us today, and I know that she will be addressing you later.

Professor Dame Sarah was one of the pioneers behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine 2.5 billion doses of this vaccine have been delivered across the world with most of those delivered at cost price.

CEPI has played a pivotal role in this vaccine that has protected so many people and I’m proud that the UK has been one of CEPI’s biggest supporters.

Just as we’ve been at the forefront of the effort to vaccinate the whole world – through COVAX and I’d like to thank CEPI for the critical part that they have played in this vital mission along with the co-leads with Gavi and the World Health Organisation.

But just because we are starting to turn the tide on this virus thanks to the protection that the vaccines have provided it does not mean that we should take our foot off the accelerator.

We still face the threat of new Covid variants that could be more severe they could be more transmissible or they could even escape the protection of current vaccines and when it comes to future pandemics – it is a question not of if but when.

Because over the coming years global travel will intensify more people will live in dense urban areas and climate change will further disrupt the already complex relationship we have with our natural environment.

We know that vaccines are the best weapon that we possess against future pandemics and that this is the moment to build on the extraordinary momentum that we have already seen.

We must keep moving at the pandemic pace and pursuing scientific solutions.

For instance, the partnership that some of you would have heard about from the Prime Minister the partnership between CEPI and one of our most pioneering companies, DIOSynVax.

It’s a partnership that’s working on developing a variant proof vaccine that could shield us all from future deadly COVID variants.

As well as partnerships like these, we must keep striving to secure access to vaccines across the world and shorten the vaccine development process even further – which has shrunk so much during the Covid pandemic.

This is the ethos behind the 100 Day Mission – a vital partnership looking at how we can make diagnostics, and therapeutics and vaccines more available more effective more affordable within the first 100 days of any new pandemic being identified.

Now to do this, we need to make it easier to get clinical trials up, and get them running, and delivering results and we must work more seamlessly across borders – to share data and avoid the costly duplications of effort.

Of course this won’t happen on its own.

It will take the same laser-like focus that has helped us to put Covid on the back foot.

I am thrilled already by the pledges that I’ve just heard about from Richard, the pledges from the Government of Japan the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support this work.

This is building on the £160 million already from the UK over the next five years.

It is not always easy to think about adversaries that don’t even exist.

But if we wait until these threats materialise, then it will be too late.

So I urge other donors to step up and to fund this vital work to help us reduce the grief and devastation that future pandemics will bring.

Anyone who doubts what we are able to achieve when we put our minds to it and how vaccines can change the course of history should take a look around this museum.

You know right here in one of the world’s greatest collections of scientific and medical ingenuity is the vial from the first vaccine ever given through a Covid vaccination programme this vaccine has now been put in arms of billions of people all across the world – including in a vaccination centre right here in this museum, where I got my first jab as well.

It sits alongside artefacts from campaigns against polio and the plague.

That is the magnitude of what we, we have achieved.

If we keep working together, and learn the lessons of the past two years, I have no doubt that we can do so again. Thank you all very much.

Officers and civilian staff from across the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) have been sharing their pledges to #BreakTheBias, the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day (8 March), as we reflect on our collective commitment to help level the playing field and continue to build an environment where women can thrive at work and within the communities we serve and protect.

Improving the representation of women in firearms roles across UK policing continues to be a challenge nationally. In the MDP, 11% of our Authorised Firearms Officers and 64% of our civilian staff are women, working in a range of roles and specialisms throughout the force. We have female representation in almost all ranks and grades across our organisation, up to Assistant Chief Constable and Civil Service Grade 6.

The representation of women in the MDP shows how we are “breaking the bias”, given the stereotypical perception that being an armed police officer is a “job for the boys” only. There is, however, still much more to be done and we’re working to encourage more women to join us and to ensure equitable and fair treatment and support for all serving female officers and civilian staff.

We recognise the importance of a working environment free from prejudice and where everyone feels valued. As a police force, we’re committed to promoting inclusivity and tackling any unacceptable behaviour, within and around the sites and communities we serve and protect, providing a policing service that is inclusive, professional, and ethical, working together with stakeholders and partners to provide support and keep women safe.

We all have a role to play in driving forward positive change, calling out unacceptable conduct, breaking gender biases, questioning stereotypes and celebrating the achievements of women in the MDP and more widely in society.

New Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Dales said:

During my short time with the MDP so far, I have met some great female MDP role models and seen evidence of positive ongoing work to continue building a truly inclusive working environment and culture, within which women are valued and can progress to their full potential.

I am also very pleased to see the work that the MDP are developing as part of the national Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, both within our own Force and more widely in support of the national Enough campaign. Nobody should be bystanders. We can all do our bit to keep women and girls safe, and as police officers we must call out, challenge, report and act against any behaviour that betrays our professional standards or that concerns us.

As the new MDP Gender Champion, I look forward to working with our dedicated staff and teams across the organisation and within the wider MOD, to further progress activity to remove barriers and identify initiatives to improve the lived experience for women in the MDP and Defence.

Here’s just some of the things we’re doing to “break the bias” and support continuous growth and development of an inclusive culture in the MDP:

• The MDP Gender Network aims to improve the lived experience – including engagement, development, and promotion opportunities – for women in the force and those who support them. The Network provides input on policies and processes, and contact points, as a safe space for members to raise any issues or share ideas and thoughts.

• Collaborative working with other networks and associations within Defence, the Civil Service and policing, including the Defence Gender Network and the British Association of Women in Policing (BAWP)

• provision of a dedicated Force Maternity Coordinator, on a voluntary basis, providing guidance, advice and support to female officers going on or returning from maternity leave, as well as support and guidance in relation to paternity, adoption, and shared parental leave

• engaging our staff networks, including the Gender Network, in an independent assessment of current MDP shift patterns, to develop options to improve efficiency and effectiveness and support flexible working

• developing our mentoring processes and positive action activity, to support recruitment and staff development in the coming year and beyond

Further information

During Women’s History Month throughout March, on Facebook and Twitter, we’ll be…

• reflecting further on what we’re doing to help #BreakTheBias

• supporting and promoting the national Enough Campaign

• and MDP women will be answering some quick questions on themselves and life in the force, as they share their #MyMDPMinute

Find out more about our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the MDP: we value difference in our force with a difference

Gerson Support Group was registered as a charity in 1997 to relieve sickness and to preserve and promote good health by providing support to cancer patients. The charity also aimed to advance public education in the “Gerson nutritional therapy”, based on a specific organic vegetarian diet, nutritional supplements and enemas.

In September 2019, the regulator opened a case to examine how the organisation fulfilled these purposes in practice, including seeking information from its trustees, and reviewing publicly available information about Gerson nutritional therapy.

This case was conducted and concluded in the period after the Commission’s 2018 review, which updated the regulator’s approach to assessing the charitable status of organisations offering complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. The review concluded that to satisfy the ‘public benefit’ requirement and qualify for charitable status, organisations must provide evidence that the therapy being offered is capable of delivering the claimed benefits. CAM organisations that claim a therapy can cure a particular condition therefore need to provide objective scientific evidence for their claims. This contrasts with those focussing on offering comfort and relief to patients, which may be able to rely on other types of evidence, such as patient reported outcomes, to demonstrate their public benefit.

In assessing Gerson Support Group, the regulator identified concerns about the extent to which it was providing public benefit. In response to the Commission’s concerns, the organisation’s trustees acknowledged that the evidence around Gerson nutritional therapy, and its claims to treat cancer and its symptoms, would not now meet the Commission’s criteria for registration as a charity.

The trustees are now in the process of winding the charity up and have applied its outstanding funds to other charitable organisations.

Helen Earner, Director of Regulatory Services for the Commission, said:

I welcome the decision by the trustees of Gerson Support Group to wind it up, having recognised our concerns regarding its claims to cure people from life-threatening diseases.

Charitable status is a special status that comes with clear expectations and responsibilities. The law is clear that all organisations which wish to hold that status must demonstrate public benefit.

It is right that, following the Commission’s intervention, the organisation has been removed from the register of charities.

Gerson Support Group has now been removed from the register of charities.

In a blog published today Helen Earner explains the Charity Commission’s wider approach to regulating organisations offering complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society.