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Preventing ill health: smoking, vaping and obesity, alcohol and drugs, vaccination and infectious disease, and the gap in health between richer and poorer areas.
In the Seventh Senedd the main prevention debate has been the new Deputy Minister for Public and Preventative Health's plan for a cross-government approach and a public health strategy. Members have also debated the gap in healthy life expectancy between richer and poorer areas, youth vaping, vaccine uptake and substance misuse. Opposition Members have mostly asked how the approach will change outcomes in practice and what it will cost.
The main arguments
Nerys Evans (Plaid Cymru), Deputy Minister, said prevention is a cross-government priority. She described a new public health strategy, ministerial and official governance groups, and work on a designated preventative expenditure limit within the Welsh budget. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Nerys Evans, Zaynub Akbar and Matthew Jones (Plaid Cymru) and Anthony Slaughter (Wales Green Party) said healthy life expectancy is falling and the gap between deprived and affluent areas is wide, including 18 years for men and 19 for women. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
James Evans (Reform UK) and Jayne Bryant (Welsh Labour) asked what the cross-government work looks like in practice, what it costs and how success will be measured during the term, not only the creation of a budget line. Contributions: [1][2]
Nerys Evans said a consultation covers plain packaging for vapes, limits on flavour names, less appealing designs and under-the-counter sales. Natasha Asghar (Welsh Conservatives) cited one in three adults with obesity and nearly 4,000 smoking deaths a year. Contributions: [1][2][3]
On vaccination, Becca Martin (Plaid Cymru) raised flu uptake of 43.7 per cent among two and three-year-olds. Mabon ap Gwynfor (Plaid Cymru) gave 46.1 per cent. Sioned Rees, an official, noted a 20 per cent HPV uptake gap between least and most deprived areas. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Several Members linked prevention to wider factors. Leticia Gonzalez (Plaid Cymru) raised loneliness. Heledd Fychan (Plaid Cymru) and Jayne Bryant (Welsh Labour) raised sport, swimming and the arts. James Evans (Reform UK) raised access to school sports facilities. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
On substance misuse and gambling, Jane Dodds (Welsh Liberal Democrats) said the gambling harms service cannot meet referrals. Peredur Owen Griffiths (Plaid Cymru) asked for more harm reduction, including a ketamine awareness campaign. Contributions: [1][2]
Where the parties stand
Plaid Cymru
As the governing party, its Members say preventing illness is a matter of social justice. They describe a cross-government strategy, a preventative budget approach, tighter vaping rules and action on inequalities in screening and vaccination. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Welsh Labour
Its Members welcome the cross-government approach but press for outcomes and measures of success. Jayne Bryant raised HPV vaccination and arts and sport for health. Ken Skates linked school vaccination to winter planning. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Reform UK
Its Members ask what the cross-government work means in practice and at what cost. Paul Marr said prevention depends on access to front-line services in rural areas. James Evans supports school swimming and wider sport funding. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Welsh Conservatives
Natasha Asghar asked what further action will follow on obesity and smoking, and noted GP training space limits. Peter Fox called for a national food strategy. Paul Davies questioned whether culture and sport have enough resources. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Welsh Liberal Democrats
Jane Dodds raised gaps in gambling harms support after the levy funding, and cited Public Health Wales on the first 1,000 days of life as a reason for affordable childcare. Contributions: [1][2]
Wales Green Party
Anthony Slaughter said health inequalities are stark and rising. He linked them to poverty, food insecurity, poor housing and polluted air, and said volunteers should not have to fill the gap. Contributions: [1]
What the government is being pressed on
1What will the cross-government approach change, what will it cost and how will success be measured? Nerys Evans replied with a public health strategy, short, medium and long-term outcomes, and a budget that shows what is spent on prevention. Contributions: [1][2][3]
2How will prevention be protected when acute pressures are immediate? Huw Thomas noted a £4 million public health budget in one health board. The Deputy Minister said the first step is defining and mapping preventative spending. Contributions: [1][2][3]
3How will preventative healthcare reach rural west Wales? Paul Marr asked for specific changes. Nerys Evans pointed to the supplementary budget, waiting list investment and the First Minister's plan to rural-proof service costs. Contributions: [1][2]
4How can low child flu vaccine uptake be raised? Becca Martin raised it. Mabon ap Gwynfor said health boards are planning to address inequality, with vaccinations to start early in September and be delivered by the end of November. Contributions: [1][2]
5Is enough being done on addiction recovery? Becca Martin asked how to build on support. Rhun ap Iorwerth said £68 million a year goes to substance misuse services, and the Deputy Minister will engage with people with lived experience. Contributions: [1][2][3]
What the public is asking for
A petition on sweet-style vape marketing (321 signatures, 312 from Wales) asks for a ban. Open petitions also seek abolition of minimum unit pricing (736), a men's health plan (321), easier shingles vaccination (177) and weight-loss medicine access (15).
Who ministers are meeting
Ministers' published meetings on this subject are with a patient charity working on a blood-borne virus (the Hepatitis C Trust) and the national public health body, with one meeting each.
In the Sixth Senedd (2021 to 2026)
From the previous Senedd's record, for issues that run across both. The rest of this analysis covers the Seventh Senedd only.
In the Sixth Senedd, prevention debates ran alongside the COVID-19 response. Members argued about the inverse care law and health inequality, tobacco and vaping rules, obesity strategy and immunisation. Concern about youth vaping and the cost of obesity grew over the term.
In January 2022 Mike Hedges (Welsh Labour) cited the inverse care law, and Delyth Jewell (Plaid Cymru) said people in the poorest areas live 18 fewer healthy years. Heledd Fychan (Plaid Cymru) blamed austerity. Contributions: [1][2][3]
In 2023 John Griffiths (Welsh Labour) said the 2016 opposition vote against vaping restrictions cost young people protection. In 2024 Mabon ap Gwynfor (Plaid Cymru) sought a retail register, while Gareth Davies (Welsh Conservatives) favoured better enforcement. Contributions: [1][2][3]
On obesity, Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru) questioned in 2022 whether £13 million was enough. In January 2026 Jeremy Miles (Welsh Labour) put obesity costs to the NHS at £365 million a year. Contributions: [1][2]
Eluned Morgan (Welsh Labour) published the national immunisation framework in 2022 to raise uptake and equity. In 2024 Mabon ap Gwynfor linked misinformation to measles outbreaks. Contributions: [1][2]
Written by AI on 30 October 2026 from 140 contributions in the Senedd between 2 June 2026 and 22 October 2026, with the petitions and ministers' meetings on this brief. Each point links to the contributions it draws on; check them before quoting. How the analysis is written.
What the government has promised
The Programme for Government 2026 to 2030 belongs to the Seventh Senedd. Choose the Seventh Senedd to see how often each commitment has come up.
Prevention of ill health
Improve public health and wellbeing at population level by developing a new, comprehensive Public Health Strategy and Framework for Wales, based on a root and branch review of current and future public health needs.
Embed health prevention in all policy development across government ensuring strategic alignment of government action on the social determinants of health and wellbeing.
Harness expertise and plans to minimise the impact of communicable diseases with a focus on elimination targets by 2030 for tuberculosis and blood-borne viruses including HIV.
Deliver a national School Swimming and Water Safety programme, giving every pupil in Wales a foundation for an active, healthy life, building their confidence, and keeping children safe around water.
Source: Welsh Government, Programme for government 2026 to 2030: New ambition for Wales, first published on 10 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Mentions are found by matching the names of plans, bodies and schemes; a mention says nothing about progress.
From the Welsh Government
The Welsh Government's latest press releases and Cabinet statements on this brief.
How these votes work: the Senedd first votes on the motion as written. If that fails, it votes on each amendment in turn, then on the motion with any agreed changes.
Votes are tagged from their own titles and the agenda item they were held under.
Each bar is the share of that party's speeches and questions in the Sixth Senedd that touched this brief, so large and small parties can be compared. The upright line marks the chamber as a whole: 0.70%.
Ministers' meetings with outside organisations and their engagements on this brief, from the register the Welsh Government publishes every three months. 1 since the 2026 election:
24 September 2026
Hepatitis C Trust
Meeting, Deputy Minister for Public and Preventative Health
1,205 contributions in the Sixth Senedd, newest first.
Fliss Bennee
, Health and Social Care Committee
COVID-19: update on current situation from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Chief Scientific Adviser for Health and the Welsh Government's Technical Advisory Cell
COVID-19: update on current situation from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Chief Scientific Adviser for Health and the Welsh Government's Technical Advisory Cell
Contributions tagged in each month of the Sixth Senedd. No sittings were held in August 2021, August 2022, August 2023, December 2024, February 2025, March 2025, April 2025, May 2025, June 2025, July 2025, August 2025, September 2025, October 2025, November 2025 and December 2025.Show the numbers
Month
Contributions
May 2021
12
June 2021
62
July 2021
39
August 2021
No sittings
September 2021
83
October 2021
67
November 2021
104
December 2021
70
January 2022
47
February 2022
37
March 2022
47
April 2022
11
May 2022
20
June 2022
24
July 2022
14
August 2022
No sittings
September 2022
35
October 2022
24
November 2022
26
December 2022
How this brief is put together
This brief follows the Programme commitments listed above and tags the record with the phrases below. Keyword matching can miss business that discusses the issue in other words, and can tag a passing mention.
Show the phrases it uses
A contribution is tagged when its English text contains one of these phrases. Capital letters don't matter, except in abbreviations, which must match exactly. It is also tagged when the title of the agenda item or question it was part of contains one, as long as the contribution is at least 30 words long. The brief is also tagged whenever one of its themes is.
