THE results of the Welsh Health Survey 2015 reveal that health remains the greatest challenge faced by the Welsh Government.

Wales faces a public health crisis with around sixty per cent of adults classed as overweight and about a quarter as obese.

There is some good news in the survey.

The number of adults who smoke has dropped to nineteen per cent while binge drinking has also decreased.

However, the overall picture is a bleak one for the health of our nation.

Soaring rates of obesity have led to an increase in type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Since 1996, the number of people living with

diabetes in Wales has more than doubled. 182,600 people in Wales now have diabetes.

A further 70,000 people are estimated to have Type 2 diabetes, but do not know it.

If diabetes identification and diagnosis improves, the figure will exceed 300,000 by 2025.

Diabetes accounts for around ten per cent of the annual NHS Wales budget. This is approximately £500 million a year.

The ageing population of Wales, and socio-economic inequalities, are increasing incidences of cancer.

Welsh women have one of the highest lung cancer incidence rates in Europe, with the main preventable factors in cancer being smoking, obesity, poor diet, and alcohol all of which can be measurably curbed by public health initiatives.

The British Heart Foundation say that Wales has the highest prevalence of heart failure in the UK with more than thirty thousand people diagnosed.

It is clear we need a programme of preventative initiatives to promote public health in Wales.

Public Health initiatives relieve the burden on centralised healthcare allowing money to be invested into maintaining core hospital services.

Public health forms a critical strategy in educating people and thereby preventing some of Wales’ biggest killers.

More health issues equate to greater expenditure. In order to protect existing services, there is a clear need to tackle the long-term causes of chronic illnesses.

By systematically preventing the causes of long-term chronic illnesses, money would be available to sustain hospital wards, and halt closures, across Wales.

I welcome the appointment by the Welsh Government of a minister for public health and hope this indicates they recognise the scale of the crisis facing Wales.