Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:00 pm on 27 June 2023.
Diolch yn fawr, Joyce Watson. You're absolutely right—I think it makes sense also for us just to focus a little while on the situation in relation to HPV. As you've suggested, at the moment we give it in two doses, but expert advice from both the WHO and from the JCVI has suggested that you get the same level of protection if you give it to a young person as you do if you give two doses, so we're following that expert advice. That means all girls aged 12 to 13 are offered that, and boys, obviously. What we've found is that the uptake of the first offer is about 82 per cent, but the second one is around about 70 per cent. So, we'll hit the target, and we've just got to bear that in mind, but that still leaves—and I think this addresses your equality issue—quite a few people. It's almost 20 per cent who are not protected. What we've learnt during the pandemic is that you really have to chase these people down, really make sure that they feel like they've got access, that they get the information they need, and we've developed a degree of expertise around that, about how to reach out to those communities that are traditionally more difficult to get to. What we know is that if it is given to girls and boys who are 12 and 13, you are less likely—. There's 87 per cent less of a chance that you're going to get cervical cancer in your 20s compared to people who are unvaccinated. That's the thing to sell, that actually the evidence supports it; if you want to protect yourself, this is what you do. But, again, we've got to make sure we get that evidence out there and get that communication right.