MPS have warned that a “shadow pandemic” of destitution, disease, international debt and a rise in women and girls being abused could be more catastrophic than Covid-19 itself.

In a report published today, the international development committee (IDC) urges the government to speed up its distribution of a promised sum of £764 million to ensure healthcare progress is not lost amid efforts to halt the spread of Covid-19.

The MPs’ inquiry found that routine healthcare — such as vaccinations such as for measles, polio and diphtheria, and HIV/Aids anti-retroviral treatment — has ground to a halt in many countries.