2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:28 pm on 16 October 2018.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 2:28, 16 October 2018

Could I call for two statements? The first one is on post-polio syndrome ahead of Post-polio Syndrome Day next Monday, 22 October. It was launched in 2013 to raise awareness of post-polio syndrome amongst the general public, and the date chosen, 22 October, to be close to the official World Polio Day, marked on 24 October, by Rotary's End Polio Now campaign.

People in remote regions with the syndrome can be particularly hard to reach. There have been outreach initiates in Scotland and south-west England and, clearly, there will be people with the syndrome in remote parts of Wales, who are also living isolated lives, who need to be reached. This is recognised as a neurological condition. Up to 80 per cent of those who've had polio will go on to develop the syndrome after several years, with increasing weakness, fatigue, pain, swallowing problems, cold intolerance and much else. There's no specific cure, but properly managed, it can be stabilised, progress slowed, cost on the NHS reduced and the quality of life of the individuals affected improved. In a survey by YouGov a couple of years ago, 86 per cent of people recognised Parkinson's, Alzheimer’s and epilepsy, but only 7 per cent recognised the syndrome. The British Polio Fellowship is calling on parliamentarians across the UK to help develop that awareness across the population, but also in Wales, particularly in the context of the needs of the population affected. I call for a statement on that.

My final call is for a statement on modern slavery. Last Saturday, I attended the north Wales modern slavery forum, ahead of modern slavery week this week, and Anti-slavery Day across the UK on 18 October. It was organised by a third sector organisation, Haven of Light, but we had representatives from public, private, business sectors, we had the Wales anti-slavery co-ordinator, Jeff Cuthbert as the anti-slavery lead for the police and crime commissioners, and many more. We heard that, now, the biggest affected population are actually Britons who are trafficking victims. We heard that modern slavery was alive in business, agriculture, hospitality, crime and sexual exploitation across north Wales, and Wales's rural communities, towns and every single county, and much more besides. Clearly, this is topical because of the week, but clearly it's also an ongoing issue, where the number of people reported last year of being trafficked increased by 56 per cent, and the first six months of this year showed a multiple again of figures being reported, just in Wales.