6. 2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:01 pm on 29 November 2016.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 3:01, 29 November 2016

I thank Mark Isherwood for both those questions and points on the business statement—and, of course, acknowledging that you were also present, Mark, at the cross-party group on haemophilia and contaminated blood—but also the opportunity to draw Members’ attention to the statement that was made by the Minister for Social Services and Public Health on 23 November, the statement on sexual health in Wales, which does address many of the points, highlighting and updating many of the points following a review of the sexual health and well-being action plan for Wales 2010 to 2015. Particularly, you give some of the information in terms of the latest trends on rates of sexually transmitted infections. If we look at rates of STIs and HIV in Wales, although the statement recognises they’ve been high in recent years, laboratory-confirmed data for the first six months of this year show falls in rates of sexually transmitted infections and HIV compared to the same period for 2014, which is encouraging.

But obviously the Minister is recognising that we can’t be complacent; we need to take account of circumstances. So, again, she’s announced in her written statement, which I do encourage Members to look at, an acknowledgement of World Aids Day on 1 December, and she’s undertaking a review that’s going to start next year. And also that’s going to be led by, overseen by, a sexual health programme board, chaired by the chief medical officer. And she also, in that statement, acknowledges that we’re going to be introducing a new human papilloma virus vaccination programme, for example, which is relevant to this question today.