English: I'm very pleased to be able to contribute to this debate, even though I wasn't a member of the health committee during the inquiry itself. This was a subject that I was very eager for the committee to look into when I was a member of it, and I very much welcome the publication of the report on this very important subject. Now, there is a genuine opportunity for us here in Wales to achieve this simple but very exciting aim of eliminating hepatitis C in its entirety. Yes, there's a target from the World Health Organization to eliminate it by 2030, but we could move according to a tighter timescale. Scotland and England have already set themselves a stricter target, and the Hepatitis C Trust have said to the committee that, because Wales has a relatively low number of people living in it to find and to treat, we could be the first nation in the UK to eliminate this disease. But, of course, we need a very strong strategy in order to do that and it's very disappointing to read the conclusions of the committee that we're not on the right course to reach the target of elimination by 2030 even, at the moment. The belief is that potentially half of those in Wales who have hepatitis C haven't received a diagnosis yet, partly because of the asymptomatic nature of hep C, so people sometimes receive a misdiagnosis. Perhaps people aren't aware that they're in a risk category - people who perhaps have used drugs in the past and haven't done so for decades and think that the risk has passed; potentially, users of drugs or injections to improve their image or performance in sport, even - people who don't consider that they're using injections in a dirty way, as it were, and so who don't have access to substance abuse services and are losing out on the important messages that are shared in those contexts as well. So, I do welcome the recommendation to have an awareness raising campaign - a targeted campaign - to target those at-risk groups as well as providing training to professional health workers. It became very clear to me over the past few years that the challenge is not to treat those who already have the disease but to find those who have the disease but don't know it. And the Government itself admits in its response to the committee's recommendations that patients are very hard to reach. So, do let us use every means at our disposal to reach them, whether by letting people know who could be at risk; using every opportunity to test; improving the testing for hepatitis C in prisons in Wales, as the report recommends; also looking at other opportunities - testing when people register with a GP, and so on. There are many ways of reaching out to people, and an awareness-raising campaign should also let people know how easy it is to treat - and how easy it is to have the test in the first place, but also how easy it is to treat hepatitis C on early diagnosis. There is good work being done and firm foundations laid already in many ways, and I thank those within the health system and charities and so on for the major steps forward that they have taken in this regard. But we do have to ensure that there is a commitment by the health boards and the Welsh Government to move towards elimination and we should consider targets as a minimum as well, not as a maximum, so that we can treat as many people as possible and identify as many of those as possible who have hepatitis C, and that's to save money in the long term, as well. So, as I said, there is a genuine opportunity here for us in Wales. Please do let us ensure that everything possible is done so that we don't lose out on this golden opportunity.
Welsh: Dwi'n falch iawn o allu cyfrannu at y ddadl yma, er nad oeddwn yn aelod o'r pwyllgor iechyd yn ystod yr ymchwiliad ei hun. Mi oedd hwn yn bwnc roeddwn i'n awyddus iawn i'r pwyllgor ymchwilio iddo fo pan oeddwn i yn aelod, ac roeddwn i'n croesawu'n fawr cyhoeddi'r adroddiad ar y pwnc pwysig iawn yma. Mae cyfle gwirioneddol gennym ni yma yng Nghymru i gyrraedd y nod syml ond hynod, hynod gyffrous o ddileu hepatitis C yn gyfan gwbl. Oes, mae yna ymrwymiad gan Sefydliad Iechyd y Byd i'w waredu erbyn 2030, ond mi allen ni yng Nghymru symud ar amserlen dynnach na hynny. Mae Lloegr a'r Alban eisoes wedi gosod targedau llymach iddyn nhw eu hunain, ac mae Ymddiriedolaeth Hepatitis C wedi dweud, fel dywedon nhw wrth y pwyllgor, am fod Cymru â nifer cymharol fach o bobl i ddod o hyd iddyn nhw a'u trin, mi all Cymru fod y wlad gyntaf yn y Deyrnas Unedig i ddileu'r haint. Ond, wrth gwrs, mae angen strategaeth gref iawn er mwyn gwneud hynny, ac mae'n siomedig iawn darllen casgliad y pwyllgor nad ydym ni ar y trywydd iawn i gyrraedd targed dileu erbyn 2030 hyd yn oed, ar hyn o bryd. Y gred ydy bod o bosib hanner y rheini yng Nghymru sydd â hepatitis C ddim wedi cael diagnosis eto, yn rhannol oherwydd natur asymptomatig hep C, felly mae pobl weithiau yn cael cam ddiagnosis. Efallai nad yw pobl yn ymwybodol eu bod nhw mewn categori risg - pobl, o bosib, sydd wedi defnyddio cyffuriau yn y gorffennol a heb wneud hynny ers degawdau o bosib ac yn meddwl bod y perig wedi pasio; o bosib defnyddwyr cyffuriau neu chwistrellu i wella delwedd neu berfformiad mewn chwaraeon, hyd yn oed - pobl sydd ddim yn ystyried eu bod nhw yn defnyddio chwistrelliadau mewn ffordd fudr mewn rhyw ffordd, ac felly nad ydynt â mynediad chwaith at wasanaethau camddefnyddio sylweddau ac yn colli allan ar y negeseuon pwysig sy'n cael eu rhannu yn y cyd-destunau hynny. Felly, dwi'n croesawu argymhelliad y pwyllgor am i'r strategaeth gynnwys ymgyrch codi ymwybyddiaeth wedi'i thargedu er mwyn cyrraedd pobl sydd yn wynebu risg, yn ogystal hefyd â darparu addysg a hyfforddiant i weithwyr iechyd proffesiynol. Mi ddaeth yn glir iawn i fi dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf mai'r her fawr ydy nid i wella pobl sydd â'r haint ond i ddod o hyd i'r bobl sydd â'r haint sydd ddim yn gwybod hynny. Mae'r Llywodraeth ei hunan yn cyfaddef yn ei hymateb i argymhelliad y pwyllgor fod cleifion yn anodd iawn i'w cyrraedd. Felly, gadewch inni ddefnyddio pob modd i geisio'u cyrraedd nhw, p'un ai drwy adael i bobl wybod pwy allai fod mewn perig; defnyddio pob cyfle i brofi; gwella profion am hepatitis C mewn carchardai yng Nghymru, er enghraifft, fel mae'r adroddiad yn ei argymell; hefyd efallai edrych ar gyfleoedd eraill - profi pawb wrth iddyn nhw gofrestru efo meddyg teulu, ac yn y blaen. Mae yna bob mathau o ffyrdd i estyn allan at bobl, ac mi ddylai ymgyrch ymwybyddiaeth hefyd adael i bobl wybod pa mor hawdd ydy trin - a pha mor hawdd ydy gwneud y prawf yn y lle cyntaf, ond pa mor hawdd ydy trin hefyd o ganfod hepatitis C yn ddigon cynnar. Mae yna waith da a sylfeini cryf wedi cael eu gosod yn barod mewn llawer ffordd, a dwi'n diolch i'r rheini o fewn y gyfundrefn iechyd ag elusennau ac yn y blaen am y camau bras maen nhw wedi eu sicrhau sydd wedi digwydd yn barod o ran hyn. Ond mae'n rhaid inni wneud yn siŵr bod ymrwymiad gan y byrddau iechyd i gyd a Llywodraeth Cymru i symud tuag at ddileu, ac y dylid ystyried targedau fel isafswm hefyd, nid fel uchafswm, efo'r nod o allu trin cymaint o bobl â phosibl a chanfod cymaint o'r rhai sydd â hepatitis C â phosibl, a hynny er mwyn arbed arian, wrth gwrs, yn y pen draw. Felly, fel y dywedais i, mae yna gyfle go iawn i ni yma yng Nghymru. Plis, allwn ni wneud yn siŵr bod popeth posibl yn cael ei wneud fel nad ydym ni'n colli'r cyfle euraid yma?