Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:02 pm on 29 June 2022.
Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. I move those amendments. This is a very important debate. It's a timely debate, and I'm very pleased that the motion was put forward by the Conservatives. I attended an event in Cardiff Bay earlier this month—the Deputy Minister spoke during that event—organised by Diabetes UK Cymru and sponsored by James Evans, where attention was given to a campaign to provide psychological support for people living with diabetes. And that was an eye-opener for me, because it gave me a new way to think about the impact of this condition. It's a condition that permeates all parts of the lives of those who live with it, and not having psychological support can lead to exceptionally negative impacts on the well-being of the individual, who, as well as that, has to live with the physical effects, of course. And I ask you to support amendment 4 by Plaid Cymru today that calls, in accordance with the campaign of Diabetes UK Cymru, for that specialist psychological support, and that that should be available to everyone as a default.
Let me remind you what we're talking about here today. Wales has the highest rate of diabetes in the United Kingdom. The number of people receiving a diagnosis of diabetes has doubled in 15 years and it continues to increase—diabetes type 2 is 90 per cent of those cases. And as Russell George said, there are tens of thousands who perhaps haven't yet received a diagnosis.
In terms of the cost to the NHS, it's a figure that we've talked about for years, that as much as 10 per cent of the entire NHS budget goes to dealing with supporting and providing treatment for those with diabetes, including for those serious complications associated with diabetes. So, in terms of the human cost and the financial cost, there is plenty of incentive to raise the game in our response to diabetes. You will have heard me talk about the need for a revolution in preventative care. According to Diabetes UK, half of the type 2 diabetes cases could be avoided by supporting people with changes to their lifestyle with regard to eating healthily, physical exercise and weight loss. That is shocking, and it should be an incentive to drive that revolution that I'm calling for. I'm calling upon you to support amendments 2 and 3 from Plaid Cymru today, which refer to the investment that needs to be made in preventative measures and to publish a diabetes prevention plan, a specific plan to prevent diabetes, based on encouraging a better diet, physical exercise, and to fund that. Think again about that figure: 10 per cent of the NHS budget goes on the response to those numbers that are far too high of people who are living with diabetes, and nothing demonstrates better the advantage of putting preventative policies in place that are innovative.
Earlier this month, the all-Wales diabetes prevention programme was introduced. It's a step forward, but it isn't as robust as similar programmes in England and Scotland. It isn't funded to the same level as those programmes, but—