4. What further action will the Welsh Government take to tackle health inequalities in Wales? OAQ54163

It is a central ambition of this Government that everyone in Wales has a fair opportunity to live a healthy life, irrespective of their background or where they live. We will continue to take a whole-Government approach to tackling the root causes of health inequalities.

Minister, one major issue that we have to make further progress in tackling is smoking prevalence in Wales. Thankfully, we have made substantial progress, but, as always, there is more work to do, and it's particularly relevant, I think, to some of our more deprived communities. The recent student health and well-being in Wales survey showed that, of year 11 school pupils, 15 to 16-year-olds, 9 per cent smoke regularly, which has remained more or less static since 2013-14. And in the least affluent areas, in the last four years, smoking prevalence in that age group has risen from 4 per cent to 6 per cent. I know that ASH Wales believes that we need to target action more effectively in our poorer communities and measure progress in terms of those targeted measures on a regular basis. Would you agree that that's one part of the way forward in dealing with these very important issues around health inequalities in Wales?

I'm genuinely interested in not just what the evidence tells us but where there is innovation as well for parts of our healthcare system and the outcomes we deliver and the reality that health inequalities exist in virtually every area of experience and outcomes. I know that ASH have been particularly interested in developing services that are aimed at young people and are effective in getting young people to engage in smoking cessation but equally messages about not taking up smoking in the first place. I know that my officials have regular contact with ASH Wales. And, as I say, I'm always interested about the evidence base that they are developing, and for some of their interventions, we've provided support for some of those in the past, but this will have to be a significant area of activity, because as well as encouraging people to give up smoking, the best port of call, of course, is for us not to take up smoking in the first place. Life lessons and attitudes undertaken before people leave school are a huge important part of that. 

Minister, in Wales, along with the rest of the United Kingdom, there are marked health inequalities between those living in the most deprived communities and those living in the most affluent areas. Childhood obesity is no exception. More than 28 per cent of children living in the most deprived areas are either overweight or obese compared to less than 21 per cent in the least deprived areas. Twice as many children living in Merthyr Tydfil are obese compared to those living in the Vale of Glamorgan. Since tackling childhood obesity lies not only in the remit of the health departments, Minister, what are you doing to encourage combined action across Government to tackle this problem in Wales?

Well, this is, of course, something that we're actively considering with our healthy weight strategy across Wales, and how we use the powers that we have across the Welsh Government in all devolved areas to try to make a real difference—the environment that we live in, the advertising and, indeed, what we can do not just to make unhealthier choices about food and drink more difficult, but actually to positively promote more healthy choices. And I would just say that, given the times that we're in and the leadership contest that I'm not participating in that's taking place at present, one of the candidates is suggesting getting rid of the sugar tax. I don't always agree with what the Conservative Government does—and most of the time I don't—but I actually think introducing the sugar tax was a good thing to do. I do not think there is any evidence to support scrapping the sugar tax being a good thing for helping us to tackle obesity across the United Kingdom. And I hope that those Conservative Members who have a vote in the contest will consider that and the impact of any other future choices that will be made, because it will have a real impact on our families and children here in Wales and not just in other parts of the United Kingdom.