It’s timely that we’re having this debate today, as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month for this year draws to a close. Indeed, as others have said, raising awareness is absolutely key when it comes to tackling the UK’s deadliest gynaecological cancer. I want to also thank the petitioner, Margaret Hutcheson. Whilst the recommendations might not fully fulfil what she was asking for initially, I think the fact that her action has got it on the agenda of the Assembly today cannot be underestimated. What a significant step forward that is in raising awareness and enabling us to step up and talk about the symptoms of ovarian cancer.

In my 90-second debate on this issue, just a couple of weeks ago, I touched on how most of us here will know somebody who’s had this cancer, or have a friend or family member, and that is the case for me. So, tackling ovarian cancer, to me, is not just a priority for me as a politician but it’s a priority driven by personal experience. The best way today that we can work together to beat ovarian cancer is to be aware of the facts, to be aware of the symptoms and to be aware of your own family history.

In fact, one in four women believe that having a smear test means that they’re covered for all gynaecological cancers. Whilst we know smear tests are important and they shouldn’t be feared and they definitely shouldn’t be forfeited, it’s important to recognise that they do not detect ovarian cancer.

Currently, it remains that the best way to detect ovarian cancer is for women and health practitioners alike, as others have said, to know and to act upon the main symptoms of this cancer. On the latter, it’s crucial for GPs and other healthcare professionals to have an enhanced understanding of the symptoms of ovarian cancer in order to increase the chances of early detection.

As my colleague Angela Burns said, the symptoms are often misdiagnosed at the first point of contact as things like IBS or things associated with the menopause. In my mum’s case, it was initially thought that she had gallstones. Some of the symptoms that previously presented themselves literally became chronic virtually overnight. It presented in March and, whilst it wasn’t an easy diagnosis, she did have surgery in June. The key to that is awareness of symptoms and for women going to the doctor to be able to articulate, ‘Actually, I’m concerned it could be this’, and to be able to feel confident to get the doctor to make that assessment to get that early diagnosis.

It would be remiss of me not to say today that I’m forever eternally grateful, and my family is, to the wonderful NHS and the amazing team of specialists in north Wales, including the oncologist who said to my mum, ‘Although the cancer is aggressive, we’re just going to get on with this’. This was in 2009 and, prior to that, she had breast cancer in 2005.

I should probably point out at this point that my mum is part of that, shall we say, select group of avid viewers of Senedd.tv—hopefully she’s watching today. But, she probably won’t be commenting on the content of my contribution, she’ll probably be telling her iPad that I’m talking too quickly or watching to see if I’ve pinched one of her items of jewellery again.