In a Welsh Conservatives debate to mark Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, James Evans MS called on Welsh Government Ministers to implement a Cancer Action Plan in order to save lives.
Wales is currently the only part of the UK without such a plan, and the latest 10 year Welsh NHS workforce plan doesn’t even include a specific workforce plan for cancer specialists.
470 women in Wales die each year from gynaecological cancer, and many women even struggle to get appointments with research by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust showing 80 per-cent of women who work full time cannot get a convenient cervical screening appointment.
James said:
"1,200 people each year are diagnosed with gynaecological cancer, and out of that, 470 die. That's 470 sisters, grandmothers, wives and mothers. It's just not good enough that those people are dying. The Government must do more.
"This isn't political, this is about actually getting on top of an issue, to address gynaecological cancer so people don't have to die unnecessarily,
"If the Government can do more to put a cancer action plan in place, no-one will have to die unnecessarily to this absolutely hateful disease."
