Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:24 pm on 28 September 2022.
I welcome this motion before us today, as we note Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month. Every woman in Wales and every woman across the world faces the risk of gynaecological cancer. It increases with age, but it is something that is a risk for everyone. But, of course, as with all cancers, the way to increase the chances of survival, if the cancer has an opportunity to take hold, is to identify and treat that cancer early. But, the reality is a very depressing one in Wales: fewer than one in three cancer patients is seen within the 62-day target. One-year and five-year survival rates for cancer of the uterus have dropped significantly over the last decade. We should be seeing survival rates increasing in the twenty-first century. Tragically, more than half of the kinds of cancer with the lowest survival rates in Wales are found late, which makes the work of treating the cancer more difficult.