To continue to improve this level of support and care, we need a long-term approach to funding the national exercise referral scheme to provide certainty to users and local authorities. It is a key part of ensuring that patients are able to improve their confidence with exercise and managing their breathlessness. We need to see greater investment in initiatives to reduce the risk of patients needing unnecessary, avoidable and costly hospital admissions, and this should include patient rescue packs that include a course of antibiotics and corticosteroid tablets to keep at home and self-manage with the advice and encouragement involved. And that would enable a prompt response to symptoms of an exacerbation. We also need to see better funding for community nursing support so patients can access support and advice services with the care involved and the better self-management it involves, and self-refer when needed to community-based services. This would, in turn, improve uptake of preventative measures.

People living with these diseases are at an increased risk of serious influenza-related complications, of course, but, despite this, uptake of influenza vaccine amongst those aged six months to 64 years in any clinical risk group was only 46.9 per cent in the 2016-17 flu session, against a target of 75 per cent. For those with chronic respiratory disease, the uptake was 46.5 per cent, which has remained static for the last five years. Were that to increase, it would reduce the risk of influenza-related complications and hospital admissions.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I support the aspiration of Welsh Government to increase access to pulmonary rehab through the respiratory health delivery plan. It is a cost-effective intervention for people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung conditions. Smoking cessation support with pharmacotherapy and pulmonary rehab interventions are arguably a more cost-effective way to help patients, rather than disproportionate spends on separate inhaler treatments. These illnesses and conditions are part of the wider public health agenda, including a growing awareness of the impact our actions are having on the environment around us.

People in towns and cities across Wales are breathing in levels of air pollution that are illegal and harmful to their health. It is an environmental issue, but an urgent public health matter too. Getting more people to walk and cycle on their daily commutes and the school run will ease peak-time congestion on our roads, reduce poor-quality air and make us fitter and healthier. The recent Welsh Government declaration of a climate emergency must now be followed with new ideas and further robust action. Across the globe, there is a growing feeling that more should and must be done—from the recent Extinction Rebellion protests in London to the powerful words from the likes of young activist Greta Thunberg, reminding us that we must all act quickly and do our part to protect our planet.

Reducing the levels of air pollution will greatly benefit everyone in Wales, particularly those living with respiratory illness and COPD. Active travel schemes and integrated transport networks, such as the south Wales metro, are an opportunity for much-needed change. They get more people out of their cars and walking and cycling, with all the benefits that involves. Welsh Government has led the way, I believe, by being one of the first countries to take forward groundbreaking legislation, such as the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

So to conclude, Llywydd, I am glad to have this opportunity today to ask Welsh Government to further support pulmonary rehab to combat respiratory illness in Wales and preventative measures like the flu vaccine, smoking cessation and further community and district nursing support. I believe concentrating on those sorts of preventative measures will result in the sort of progress that all of us want to see and make a real difference to those suffering lung disease in Wales.