Aid spent on helping Chinese to give up smoking

BRITAIN’S aid budget is being used to help cut smoking in China and keep homes in India cool rather than going to the world’s poorest countries, a Government watchdog warns today.

Ministers are accused of dishing out a £1.5billion fund for international research ‘in haste’ instead of making sure it is targeted at those most in need.

Despite repeated promises to concentrate UK aid on the poorest nations, much of the research cash is going to countries such as India and China.

Examples include a £133,584 grant to Sun Yat-sen University for a project looking at how to reduce smoking among migrant workers in factories in Guangzhou, China. The Public Health Foundation of India received £121,403 to explore how schools could reduce the consumption of sugary drinks.

Loughborough University was given £537,717 for a study on environmentally friendly ways to keep Indian houses cool.

The Independent Commission for Aid Impact found the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) needed to improve how it targets and evaluates its spending. Its report warned: ‘The early rounds of GCRF funding were done in haste, encouraging UK research institutions to rely on existing research partnerships, which were mainly in middle-income countries.’

The Department for Business, which oversees the research fund, said: ‘The GCRF has shown how the UK’s expertise in research can lead the charge in solving some of the greatest global development challenges.’

‘Funding was done in haste’