'Meaningful progress will require coherent efforts across all sectors to close the gap.'

They suggest what a strategy—the kind that we're calling for today—could look like, what a cross-Government response could look like. It should define 'health equality' and what exactly success would look like. It should provide clear, measurable targets and outcomes with a defined timescale. It should bring together existing work on inequalities from across Government departments, because, as I say, there is work going on, of course. It should define the kind of collaboration needed across Wales with many, many partners involved to bring about the change that we need. And, of course, it must be underpinned by the necessary funding. And perhaps at that stage, I see any Minister wincing at the sheer scale of the challenge. But as we ponder how on earth we find the money to do it, consider the 2011 report from the Welsh Government itself, saying that the annual economic cost of dealing with the consequences of inequalities in health in Wales was estimated then to be between £3.2 billion and £4 billion. 

In the recent strategy, 'A Healthier Wales', inequality, I think, if we're counting correctly, is only mentioned three times. Plaid Cymru wants to make a difference and the updated programme for government resulting from the co-operation agreement includes, I think, 11 mentions of the words 'equal', 'inequality' or 'inequalities', including a key promise to move to eliminate inequality in all its forms. And the most basic form of inequality—or to turn it on its head, the equality that we seek—has to be health, surely. And that's why, again, we say that the Government's amendment today, removing the call for a clear plan of action, is contrary to their own stated ambition. I'm afraid, Minister, words aren't enough in themselves.

Our own health as individuals is clearly the main ingredient in giving us the best possible quality of life, by a country mile. And translating that to a vision for the nation as a whole, while improving our levels of health overall across the board and making a particular effort to eradicate the inequalities, surely has to be at the heart of creating the better Wales that we all should strive for. I look forward to today's debate.