Angela Burns, health spokeswoman for the Welsh Conservatives

IN 1958 the NHS introduced its first mass vaccination programme, vaccinating all children against polio and diphtheria.

Before this programme, cases of polio could climb as high as 8,000 in epidemic years, with cases of diphtheria as high as 70,000, leading to 5,000 deaths.

This landmark event in our NHS’ history paved the way for our health service to not just treat us when we are unwell, but to play an active role in preventing illness in the first instance.

Yet, 70 years on, it seems that as a nation we are still grappling with the concept of preventative and prudent healthcare initiatives, with the Welsh Labour Government failing to meet their own targets on immunisation and screening, despite being one of our most reliable methods of illhealth prevention and early detection.

Just last week, Bowel Cancer UK revealed that take-up of Bowel Cancer screening was less than 50% in many parts of Wales.

This simple test, which is offered to all adults aged between 60 and 74 years, could detect this treatable and curable disease, yet it remains Wales’ second biggest cancer killer.

On cervical cancer, earlier this year Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust highlighted that, across Wales, attendance of people eligible for screening is at an 11-year-low of 77%, despite regular screening being the most effective way to prevent the disease.

While it is a slightly uncomfortable experience, it is beyond doubt a hugely important measure which we should all take advantage of.

The vaccination of girls aged 11 to 13 against HPV has been a major step forward in reducing numbers of women who develop cervical cancer.

Yet it has been recognised for a number of years now that the HPV vaccination can go some way in reducing the prevalence of head, neck and throat cancers in men – cancers which have trebled in Wales in the last 15 years.

Having lobbied alongside Welsh oncologists for the last two years to see this vaccination extended to boys in Wales, it was just last month that the Welsh Government finally accepted the need to extend this important cancer vaccination.

As a result, boys in Wales will finally be given the same protection against HPV-related cancers as girls.

But as a demographic group who have the lowest engagement with health services, it will be some task for the Welsh Labour Government, following its poor track record on screening and immunisation programmes, to translate this extension into meaningful preventative action.

Despite this poor take-up of the most basic preventative measures, the Welsh Labour Government announced this term their plans to “revolutionise” health care in Wales.

Backed by a hefty £100m transformation fund, the Welsh Government is naively hoping to deliver more services in the community, reduce our reliance on hospitals and return to the notion that rather than treating people when they are unwell, seek to prevent illness in the very first place.

This to me, seems less of a revolution, but more a case of revisiting the principles of the past. But what evaluation is taking place of the existing approach to preventative healthcare?

Talking to many healthcare professionals, it seems that many opportunities to innovate and lead have been ignored.

In each of Wales’ health boards and universities, there are incredible small-scale research projects taking place that could significantly improve the way we prevent chronic illnesses and deliver services in the community.

Yet we lack the capacity and, to some extent, courage, to scale up these projects, share their knowledge and see these initiatives grow.

Without addressing the preventative fundamentals and trusting our healthcare professionals, it is unlikely that we will move the healthcare agenda forward.

We need to become more agile as a nation to respond to the needs of our population, to put things right and embed within NHS Wales a culture of constant improvement and learning.

And that means, acknowledging failure and learning from the past.