Diolch. I thank the Member for South Wales Central, Joel James, for securing this timely and important debate in this Love Your Liver awareness month, and national awareness raising day for less survivable cancers. He's been a great advocate on liver health as chair of the cross-party group on liver disease and liver cancer, and I share his commitment to tackling unwarranted variation in liver disease care and outcomes. We also welcome recent innovation and good practice championed by the Welsh Government, including the recent introduction of the quality statement on liver disease and the roll-out of the all-Wales abnormal blood test pathway across seven health boards.

In his introduction, Joel noted that Wales has the highest mortality rates due to liver disease in the UK, and he says that we can't bury our heads in the sand over this issue. He noted that Wales is behind other UK nations on tackling hepatitis C, and he called for investment in research and in earlier and faster diagnosis of liver disease.

Rhun ap Iorwerth noted that liver disease and liver cancer are a public health crisis in Wales, and he highlighted the need for investment in preventative measures, tackling alcohol abuse and obesity in particular. Altaf Hussain noted that it's vital that we do all we can to ensure that no-one dies unnecessarily from liver disease, and especially alcohol-related liver disease, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of liver diseases. He noted that Wales has a postcode lottery in accessing specialist care and prevention support. Jenny Rathbone quite rightly said that we only have one liver, our bodies can't survive without it, and if we don't look after our liver, we will die. Gareth Davies pointed out a particular problem in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board where the hospital admission rate due to liver disease is 15 per cent above the national average, and liver cancer mortality rates are 50 per cent higher than the national average in Wales. He concluded that a better liver is a better you. Laura Anne Jones called for swift and co-ordinated action at the highest level in Welsh Government and the Welsh NHS to tackle the liver disease crisis in Wales, incorporating the good practice that she identified in some health boards. She said that liver disease is most prevalent in the most deprived areas.

The Deputy Minister, Lynne Neagle, acknowledged many of the points made by the speakers and even reiterated some of them. She listed what the Welsh Government is doing, and I've acknowledged some of that, as did colleagues, but unfortunately, she failed to support the evidenced needs identified in this motion—needs identified not by politicians, but by the sector bodies themselves.

The number of people diagnosed with liver disease in Wales more than tripled between 2002 and 2021, rising to 53,261 people. Liver disease deaths in Wales continue to rise, with mortality rates surging by 23 per cent between 2019 and 2021. As we heard, it's vital that the Welsh Government publishes a timetable for the delivery of outcomes set in its quality statement on liver disease, following the increased prevalence of liver disease amongst the Welsh population.

Despite 90 per cent of liver disease being preventable, the number of people dying from the disease has doubled in the last two decades and increased, as we heard, by 400 per cent in people aged 65 and under, with nine in 10 liver cancer patients dying within five years of being diagnosed. With mortality rates having increased since the previous policy was published, Welsh Ministers must seek to improve prevention of the disease, including: doubling the hepatology workforce, including liver nurse specialists to address huge variation in access to specialist care; seven-day alcohol care teams in place in all health boards to meet local need; and adoption of the all-Wales abnormal liver blood test pathway by all GPs to improve the early detection of liver disease.

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that can cause a range of health impacts, primarily affecting the liver. Although it is preventable, treatable and curable, we heard the figures from the Hepatitis C Trust showing that Wales is now the only UK nation not to have a target of achieving a hepatitis C elimination in advance of the World Health Organization's 2030 target, with England and Northern Ireland having set an ambition of elimination by 2025, and Scotland by 2024. By contrast, recent modelling found that continuation of current treatment rates in Wales would mean elimination would not be reached until at least 2040.

As they've stated again for this debate, the Welsh Government should implement the recommendations made by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee following its inquiry into hepatitis C in Wales, including producing a national elimination strategy, setting out a clear route map to achieving hepatitis C elimination by 2030 at the latest, and launching a hepatitis C awareness campaign. Wales has a liver disease and liver cancer public health emergency. The liver has a remarkable ability to regenerate and repair itself. If diagnosed earlier, liver damage can be reversed and risks can be drastically reduced through diet, exercise and drinking in moderation. Across health boards, liver disease mortality rates have doubled in two decades, and liver cancer deaths have almost doubled in just 10 years up to 2020, placing a huge and unsustainable burden on the NHS in Wales.

The motion put forward today is ambitious, but necessary to keep pace with the rising scale and severity of the liver disease and liver cancer public health crisis. We therefore call on the Welsh Government to double prevention efforts, accelerate earlier detection of liver disease in primary care and expand alcohol care teams across health boards to help those in critical need of support. We urge the Minister to deliver a long-term funding settlement to recruit, train and retain a specialist workforce, and we believe that these objectives can be best achieved through the introduction of a dedicated liver health strategic clinical network to keep up momentum and build on the great work of the liver disease implementation group.

As the British Liver Trust state in their correspondence to all Members, 'We would ask Members to vote in favour of the motion as tabled, and not for amendment 1, so we can keep the specific deliverables in the motion. I encourage Members to use their consciences and vote accordingly.’

I conclude by referring to the fact that, as January marks Love Your Liver Month, Members are invited to attend the British Liver Trust Love Your Liver roadshow at Roald Dahl Plass on Tuesday, 14 March. It’s part of a national awareness raising campaign to improve public awareness of the risk factors for liver disease and provides an opportunity for Members of the Senedd to find out more and have  a free liver health screen and scan any time between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Diolch yn fawr.