I want to thank Russell George and my Conservative colleagues for bringing forward this important subject for debate today. Cancer is something that, unfortunately, touches everyone in society, whether it be through a family member, friend, someone where we live, we all have a story of how cancer has affected us or someone we love in one way or another. My own family has been affected by breast cancer and skin cancer, and my two best friends have lost their fathers to prostate cancer. So I, like many others in this Chamber and in Wales, know all too well the toll it takes on a family and how crucial it is to get that diagnosis early so that everyone has the very best chance of survival. 

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Wales, with around 19,600 people tragically diagnosed with cancer every year. We all have a responsibility to stand up for our constituents and ensure that cancer services in Wales are the very best that they can be. Whilst survival rates have vastly improved in recent decades, the UK still lags behind some comparable countries in Europe and internationally. The same can be said here in Wales. Survival rates have improved in recent decades, but they're still not good enough, with one-year survival rates for stomach, colon, pancreatic, lung and ovarian cancers well below the UK average. The challenges facing cancer services in Wales have, of course, been compounded and exacerbated by the pandemic, but we now know that, in the year between April 2020 and March 2021, as has been said, 1,700 fewer people began cancer treatment in Wales.

The challenges that cancer services are facing need this Government to respond and require urgent and decisive action, not just to recover services to where they were pre pandemic, but to completely transform our cancer services so that they're fit for the twenty-first century—services that are digitalised, online where possible, responsive and accessible—in order to improve cancer outcomes and survival in the future. To achieve this, as cancer evolves, we need to evolve too and we need to heavily invest in new technologies and treatments. We need to make sure that Wales, perhaps, is the leader in some areas of this, that we are the ones that develop these new treatments and new technologies. Innovation is absolutely key in tackling cancer and improving outcomes, and we also need to invest properly in funding and expanding the access to treatments fund here in Wales. The pandemic has shown us what we can achieve. We need to make sure that we think more ambitiously to fight this big killer. 

In my own region of South Wales East, we are seeing waiting figures for cancer treatment that are the worst on record. My constituents feel let down. I am pleased to see the announcement, though, in my region of a new breast cancer centre for excellence, which is very, very welcome. This will be a vital step as we all know that, without access to timely diagnosis and the use of the most up-to-date and effective treatments, outcomes for cancer patients in Wales will not improve. Accessibility is key, so we need to see more announcements like this, with centres equally spread across Wales, as has already been said from the other benches, but I feel it needs reiterating: we need access to treatment equally across Wales, particularly in rural areas, which are so often left out.

Earlier this month, President Biden stated that we can end cancer as we know it. Sajid Javid declared a war on cancer. Minister, it leads to me ask: what is our vision for cancer services in Wales? When will we see a comprehensive cancer strategy for Wales? The Welsh Conservatives have consistently called for a new delivery plan or strategy for cancer, a workforce plan for the cancer workforce with deliverable targets, a rapid roll-out of rapid cancer diagnosis centres, expansion to the access to treatments fund, supporting patients in such ways as providing free dental care, as has been said. We need a strategy, Minister. Quite simply, we need to see much greater detail and ambition from this Welsh Government and NHS Wales, and we need to improve on preventative measures as well—obesity, alcohol, smoking, you name it. We need policies that finally are moving towards a preventative agenda as well as a reactive one. Thank you.