I thank the chief medical officer for his latest annual report. Dr Atherton has highlighted several health challenges facing our nation. I want to focus my contribution on two of those challenges. Two challenges to our nation’s health that, if left unchecked, could do untold damage to the well-being of Wales. Those challenges are antimicrobial resistance and the spread of the 'anti-vax' movement.

I welcome that, as highlighted by the chief medical officer, there has been progress made in reducing inappropriate use of antibiotics in health settings. However, we can’t tackle antimicrobial resistance by just reducing the number of antibiotics handed out by our GPs. We have been overusing broad-spectrum antibiotics for decades. When we take an antibiotic, a percentage of it ends up going down the toilet, and a result, a large amount of antibiotics ends up in our waste streams, our rivers and oceans. This pharmaceutical pollution does not only have an adverse impact upon wildlife; it also adds to the pool of microorganisms that are drug resistant. We also must consider the impact that agricultural use of antibiotics is having. Concentrations of antibiotics in soil can approach the therapeutic doses given to livestock because of overuse.

We have seen several cases around the world during the last few years were bacterial infections were resistant to every antibiotic in the arsenal. Infections for which there is no cure is a clear and present danger to human life. We must act to reduce opportunities for these microbes to become resistant and to find alternatives, and that means that as well as reducing human use of antibiotics, we also must tackle overuse in agriculture and stamp out pharmaceutical pollution. We must also invest in research into alternatives to antibiotics such as bacteriophages.

As well as the threats we face from bacteria, we are seeing a growing threat from viruses that were once under control. Again, it is human behaviour that is the driving force behind the threat. This time it’s not the arsenal that is failing. Lies and misinformation have led many to abandon the arsenal altogether. The growth of the 'anti-vax' movement has skyrocketed thanks to social media. While the social media companies are finally acting, it’s too little, too late. Too many parents have listened to the lies spread by the likes of disgraced former doctor Andrew Wakefield and American actress Jenny McCarthy. The end result of those lies is the death of children from measles.

The number of measles outbreaks has increased in recent years and we are seeing more than 10 per cent of children failing to receive two doses of the MMR vaccine. We must actively combat the spread of 'anti-vax' propaganda online with our own stark messages. Unvaccinated children may die because some person online convinced a parent that vaccines cause autism. Vaccines prevent death from disease. We all have a role to play in highlighting this, and I thank Dr Atherton for including the threat from vaccine-preventable disease in his annual report. Diolch yn fawr.