00:00 James Evans.
00:01 James Evans AM: 4.
00:02 Will the First Minister provide an update on the availability of sexual health screening
00:06 in Mid Wales?
00:07 OAQ52321 Mark Drakeford AM: I thank the Member for that.
00:09 In Wales, free online test kits for sexually transmitted infections and blood-borne viruses
00:17 are available from the Sexual Health Wales service.
00:21 This offer increases access to sexual health testing across Mid Wales.
00:26 Test kits will also be available at community outlets in Powys from January 2024.
00:32 James Evans AM: I'd like to thank the First Minister for your answer today.
00:36 First Minister, sexual health screening in my constituents, as you've said, is predominantly
00:39 done by Sexual Health Wales, but recent data has shown that the uptake on that has been
00:44 relatively low in comparison to other constituencies.
00:47 Other recent data has shown that chlamydia and gonorrhoea, along with other diseases,
00:51 are on the rise in my constituency, so I think it's vitally important that we give as many
00:55 people the opportunity to be screened so that they don't go undiagnosed with life-changing
01:01 conditions.
01:02 One way in which we could potentially do this, First Minister, is by offering pop-up clinics
01:06 across my constituency.
01:07 It was part of an independent review that was actually recommended to Government.
01:11 I have a number of venues in my constituency that would be happy to do this.
01:14 So, would you, First Minister, work with the Minister for Health and Public Health of Wales
01:18 to make sure clinics like this are available so nobody can go undiagnosed with conditions
01:23 in my constituency?
01:24 Well, Llywydd, I thank the Member for those points and for the work I know he has done
01:29 to highlight this issue in his own local area, because it is a very serious issue that faces
01:35 communities.
01:36 Actually, the availability of screening in mid Wales has improved since the pandemic.
01:44 It's one of a relatively small number of things where we can say that the pandemic changed
01:49 the nature of the service, moving it online, and far more people use the online service
01:55 than ever use the walk-in service.
01:57 There are reasons why we could easily imagine why that would be the case.
02:02 The take-up of the online service has actually been very good in rural Wales, where those
02:09 walk-in clinics were always less likely to be found.
02:14 I agree with what James Evans has said, Llywydd, about the need to do more than that.
02:19 That is why the test kits are now going to be available at community venues, in pharmacists,
02:28 in leisure centres, in libraries in his own constituency.
02:35 And there is other work that we can do.
02:37 Young Farmers Clubs, for example, have been receiving training sessions covering sexual
02:43 health matters.
02:44 So, there is more that we can do, and I'm afraid in this area, the more you do, the
02:51 more you find.
02:52 So, when the Member refers to rising rates of disease, we're never sure whether we are
02:58 just finding more, rather than there being more.
03:01 We're certainly finding more as the service reaches more people.
03:06 The Minister will want to work with the Sexual Health Wales Service to go on finding ways
03:12 to make sure that the service is easily available in a way that is acceptable to people, so
03:18 we can build on that more recent success.
