'The earlier a woman is diagnosed the greater her chance of survival'

MS for North Wales

Congratulations to all those students in North Wales who received their A level, AS level, GCSE and vocational results last week for whatever they achieved in what has been a uniquely challenging time. I wish them the very best of luck going forward.

I had a call with TCC (Together Creating Communities), an alliance of groups from across North East Wales campaigning together on issues affecting our communities, to discuss how disabled people are being excluded from local towns and attractions because they are not able to access ‘Changing Places’ toilets.

As I said in the Senedd Chamber two years ago after attending a meeting focused on bringing ‘Changing Places’ into the North East Wales counties, having more local ‘changing places’ would have a massive impact as it would remove restrictions and allow disabled people to be included in local communities.

Pancreatic Cancer UK’s campaign, ‘Transform Lives: Prescribe’, which I am supporting, aims to increase the prescription levels of a vital tablet that can be life-changing for people with pancreatic cancer, Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy, or PERT.

With only 3 in 5 people with pancreatic cancer in Wales being prescribed PERT, I had an online meeting with Pancreatic Cancer UK to discuss the campaign. Everyone with pancreatic cancer should be able to get access to this prescription, but to achieve this, we need targets, awareness, and training.

I had a constructive online meeting with Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA)’s Chief Executive, Ruth Marks, and Head of Policy, Ben Lloyd, to further discuss the issues I raised in in my recent blog for WCVA’s website about the Welsh Conservatives’ vision for the future of the voluntary sector in Wales, such as resourcing and supporting the sector to continue its key role in the recovery from the pandemic, and how to make genuine, meaningful co-production more prevalent among service providers, with support for communities becoming involved and setting the agenda.

Nearly 400 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year in Wales and more women die as result of ovarian cancer annually in the UK than all other gynaecological cancers combined. The earlier a woman is diagnosed the greater her chance of survival, and I am supporting Target Ovarian Cancer’s call for a nationwide public awareness campaign in Wales on the symptoms of ovarian cancer and writing to the Welsh Health Minister urging her to consider implementing the recommendations of the 2017 Senedd Petitions Committee Report calling for this.

If you need my help, email Mark.Isherwood@senedd.wales or call 0300 200 7219.