Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. The fields of genomics and precision medicine are the key to winning the war on cancer and key to the future of our healthcare. I’m therefore very pleased to support and greatly welcome the Government’s genomics and precision medicine strategy. When we look at lung cancer, for example, which accounts for a quarter of all cancer deaths in Wales, traditional medicines are not very effective. By targeting the specific genetic mutation with precision medicine we can increase survival rates, particularly in non-small-cell lung cancers.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and Cancer Research UK have been leading the calls for a Welsh strategy for stratified or precision medicine for a number of years, and it’s great news that we finally have one. I, together with my party, will work with you in order to ensure that this strategy is successful, and, in that spirit, I have just a few questions about how the strategy can be implemented.

Cabinet Secretary, the strategy highlights the need to ensure appropriate data sharing for the service development and research. What discussions have you had with your colleagues across the UK about how best we can share data to improve research and development whilst protecting individual patient information? Moving forward, new innovative treatments are key to the success of the strategy. Cabinet Secretary, how can you ensure that there is joined-up thinking with regard to the appraisal of these new, novel treatments? How will you ensure that the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee, the all-Wales medical genetic service, the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group, and, where appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, work closely with the pharmaceutical industry? Finally, Cabinet Secretary, how will you ensure adoption and uptake of clinical and clinical genetics services across Wales, and how will success be monitored and assessed?

I thank you once again for your statement and for bringing forward this strategy, which will help improve how we develop and how we deliver health treatments in future. Diolch yn fawr.