Men's Health Issues

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:17 pm on 14 June 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:17, 14 June 2022

I thank the Member for that question, and it is by itself an opportunity to do exactly what he said, and I thank him for making those additional points. It is indeed International Men's Health Week. It started yesterday and will run until Sunday of this week, and it's there, as Gareth Davies said, to heighten awareness of preventable health problems for men of all ages. And there is no doubt that there is a cultural issue here, where men in Wales are less likely to report early signs of symptoms, less likely to be willing to carry out the sort of simple self-checks to which the Member referred. And, as a result, too often we see people presenting too late for treatment that otherwise could have been effective for them. So, I entirely agree that anything that we can do to persuade people to do those simple things that can help them is an important step in making sure that men who have health needs can get the help they need in as timely a way as is possible.