2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:37 pm on 19 March 2019.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:37, 19 March 2019

Thank you for raising this issue. We're certainly in a very different place in Wales to the position that England is finding itself in, because, of course, we're the only country in the UK to offer high-risk HPV testing as the primary test to all people attending for cervical screening. This is a more sensitive and more accurate test, and its use will prevent more cancers than the previous test, which is still the test used across the rest of the UK. We know that over 99 per cent of cervical cancers are caused by high-risk strains of HPV. Public Health Wales, which delivers the cervical screening programme, successfully rolled out our approach in September. Cervical Screening Wales prepared for the implementation of the new screening for several years, so they've ensured that they maintain staff and sustain the service throughout that transition to the new test. So, we haven't had the same issues that they're seeing across the border. 

I'm glad that you mentioned the new campaign, which is being launched currently. It's called #loveyourcervix. It's just been launched this week, I believe, and it's to encourage young people particularly to go for their test, because we know that, even though we have a good story to tell in terms of how quickly we can give people their test results, actually we are seeing a decline in the number of people showing up for screening, particularly younger women, who are the demographic of most concern to us.