Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:22 pm on 6 October 2021.
This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The recent death of Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding from breast cancer at the tragically young age of 39 highlighted the vital importance of doing all that we can to fight this horrible disease. The pandemic has resulted in a big drop in the number of people being referred to see a specialist with suspected breast cancer. Screening services were sadly paused, and whilst for many patients treatment continued unchanged, others saw delays and cancellations of their treatment. It is therefore critical that the Welsh Government works with the NHS cancer section and cancer charities to support the recovery of breast cancer services as well as plan their long-term future. Recently, NHS England announced it would fund a national metastatic breast cancer audit. I understand that NHS Wales is also having discussions about Wales being included in this audit too, and I sincerely hope that the decision will be forthcoming soon to include Wales in this audit to address the gaps in services for breast cancer patients. Because whether you are a grandparent, a mother, a father, a husband, a son or a daughter, breast cancer does not discriminate and we all have a responsibility to work together and support the fighters, admire the survivors, honour those sadly taken away from us, and work to detect breast cancer, treat breast cancer, and raise awareness about it going forward.