Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 6 July 2022.

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Photo of Joel James Joel James Conservative 1:44, 6 July 2022

Thank you, Minister, for that response, and I'd like to reiterate, unless we have that actual assessment of the impact of this money going to Africa, we wonder what sort of benefit it's bringing to the Welsh taxpayer.

If I move on to the next question, one of the touted benefits of the Wales and Africa programme is that diaspora communities can bring to Wales knowledge and experience that is otherwise difficult to obtain here. Setting up the health partnership under the Wales and Africa umbrella also allows Welsh NHS workers to experience for themselves some of the challenges faced by sub-Saharan communities and establish mutual knowledge transfer that enables African communities to improve health education and to upskill health professionals and other workers in partner nations. Sub-Saharan countries bear 24 per cent of the world's disease burden, but employ only 3 per cent of the world's health workers. I can see that there is an unprecedented need to develop health partnerships and provide training. I am aware that relatively few Welsh health professionals are involved in health partnership schemes, and it's likely that they know very little about what the health partnerships can achieve for sub-Saharan nations and to what extent they or the Welsh NHS can benefit. With this in mind, Minister, what impact assessment has this Government made of the benefits that health partnerships have made here in Wales and in Africa, particularly to the Welsh NHS, and how is this Government examining the role that health partnerships can play in supporting the careers of Welsh health professionals going forward? Thank you.