01/03/2016 BBC Wales Today

Our top stories: Why does Wales perform worse than similar countries

when it comes to diagnosing cancer quickly?

One of the questions a new research project will investigate.

You hear for the first time cancer associated with you. And it is just

the most surreal experience because you are just thinking, no.

On St David's Day - you tell us what really matters to you when it comes

to winning your vote in the Welsh election.

One of the country's most eminent scientists says it would be a

disaster for university research if we left the EU.

summer's Olympics. has her heart set on cycling at this

And on the first day of meteorological spring - a warning

Why does Wales perform worse than similar countries when it comes to

That's one of the questions a new research project - which is being

described as the first of its kind in the world - will look at.

The study, along with another looking at new treatments for bowel

cancer, are being funded to the tune of ?1.6 million

from the charity, Cancer Research Wales.

Our Health Correspondent Owain Clarke has the details.

Around 19,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in Wales last year and

numbers are rising. Cancer rates are worse here than in many other

developed countries. This woman spotted signs of her own cancer

early and was diagnosed within days. It had a profound effect. It is

absolutely terrifying. You go in because you think you have seen

something but you are not sure, and within 50 minutes you're lying on a

bed and doctors are talking about a biopsy. And suddenly you are here

for the first time, cancer, associated with you. It is just the

most surreal experience, because you are just thinking, no, this cannot

be. Jackie recovered, many do not. But the earlier the kinds is

spotted, the the results. But one charity, Cancer Research Wales, is

giving a project led by a GP in Bangor ?800,000 to find out. They

are under pressure to minimise health service costs and not make a

public organise expensive testing but on the other hand is a chance

that they have douce that up to two spot people with cancer, and we feel

if we can give them the right investigations. Cancer Research

Wales was formed when a group of professionals at this hospital in

Cardiff joined forces. It has grown substantially over the decades and

now the charity spends ?1 million a year on 50 Cancer Research partners

-- project 's based in Wales. The one this year is being described as

an unprecedented boost for the charity's 50th birthday. ?800,000

will be used to develop ways of diagnosing cancer earlier. And

?800,000 will be spent trying to develop new therapies to tackle a

big killer, bowel cancer. It is the second most common type of cancer in

Wales. The team in Cardiff is spearheading efforts to get the

body's immune system to target and kill cancer cells. We want to make

treatments are available for everyone, whether you develop

colorectal cancer in the third World or the Western world. So, generic

vaccines. To do this, we can identify common targets, which we

find in most tumours. 9000 people die of cancer each year in Wales,

yet we have some of the lowest survival rates in Western Europe. It

is hoped that this research will help narrow the gap.

It looks like health will be the biggest single biggest issue that

could affect your vote - when we go to the polls in the Welsh Assembly

But BBC Wales' annual St David's Day poll suggests that there's still

some confusion over who runs the Welsh NHS.

With those and other findings, our political reporter James Williams.

With the Assembly Election on the horizon, BBC Wales' annual St

David's Day Paul has been gauging the political temperature. Our

survey suggests one third of Babel say that health would be their top

issue when they cast their votes on me that there. 18% were jobs at the

top the list, and 14% said immigration was their priority.

Despite voters placing health as the top electoral issue, our poll

suggests that confusion persists about who runs the Welsh NHS,

because despite 65% of people saying, correctly, that it is run by

health ministers in Cardiff, just under one third were thinking that

it was run by the UK Government in Westminster. It is interesting that

we have a slight increase in understanding that the Welsh

government makes the key critical decisions around health in Wales,

and I suspect that is as a result of some of the quite the Teutonic

attacks on the performance and the governments that Mac vitriolic

attacks, that have come from the UK Government. Immigration is the third

highest is in the election issue even though it is the UK

Government's responsibility. Ask if the numbers moving from outside the

UK into Wales were too high, just over half thought that they were.

37% thought they were just about right. 8% thought they were too low.

Celebrating the Welsh national Day, from Downing Street, to the streets

of Cardiff. How do people feel about the transfer of power from

Westminster to Cardiff Bay? Our poll indicated 43% of voters would like

the Welsh Assembly to have more powers, 30% thought it had

sufficient current powers, 30% would like it abolished completely, and 6%

supported independence for Wales. Another question we asked was, can

you name these four people's these are the Welsh Police and Crime

Commissioners, elected to ensure that police forces are run properly

but many of our respondents could not name many of them. Do you

recognise any of those faces? Do you know who that is? No, I don't. What

about that guy? No, I don't. I know that one chap, from Newport went. --

Newport went. His name is Ian Johnson. It is no surprise to some

given that just under 15% of people in Wales voted in the first

elections back in 2012. There was no significant awareness of the role of

the commissioners. That needs to be embraced now, to make people aware

of exactly what commissioners do now and what their function can be in

the future. There is not long ago elections for policing Crime

Commissioners will be held on the same day as the Assembly Election,

on the 5th of May. Let's talk to our Political Editor

Nick Servini. What caught your attention in this

Paul? I'm not surprised that the NHS is the main concern, it is half of

what the Welsh government spends. It is worth reflecting on the extent to

which health dominates politics at the assembly. It was not that long

ago, when you spoke about policies it would be health, education and

the economy, all in one breath. Look at the figures coming from this

Paul. Just 10% of people put education as the main concern. 18%

said it was jobs and 33% said it was the NHS. It really is pulling ahead.

This will be no surprise to the Assembly Members here. The Welsh

government spends so much time defending their record on the NHS. I

was at a briefing of Plaid Cymru this morning in which, they geared

up for their conference and they were asked their priority. The

answer was health, health and health. Confirmation, if we needed

it, that the NHS really is the battle ground when it comes to

assembly politics. A former lifeguard and children's

swimming coach from Gwynedd will be sentenced later for raping a

ten-year-old girl Gareth Vincent Hall - from Talysarn

near Caernarfon - admitted travelling to Oregon to rape a girl

he met online. A defibrillator used to revive a

heart-attack patient who later died at Glan Clwyd Hospital was

initially set at the wrong power level by a nurse,

an inquest has been told. 78-year-old John Rogers from

Denbigh died on a coronary care ward in

March last year. One of the UK's best known

scientists has told Wales Today that it would be a "disaster" for

university research if Britain left

the European Union. Lord Robert Winston was appearing at

a life sciences conference Critics argue that leaving the EU

would have no impact on research. Here's our business correspondent,

Brian Meechan. This diagnostics company has been up

and running for a little over a year, designing new tests for

diseases including sepsis, it is the second biggest cause of death after

heart disease and proper diagnosis would save lives. The benefits of

being in South Wales is that we have good universities and a strong NHS

infrastructure. We have all of the elements there to take forward a

strong collaboration and couple that with innovative SMEs around the

area, it is a great melting pot and it has a huge amount of benefits.

The company came out of work on at Cardiff University. The company is

one of a number of growing number of companies in the life sciences

sector in Wales. There are now 350 companies operating here and they

are employing 11,000 people. But it is not just the number of jobs.

These ones tend to be a high quality and high value. One of the UK's best

known scientists, Lord Winston, came to speak to industry figures at the

life sciences hub in Cardiff, as part of the Bio Wales conference. He

is also a Labour peer, but he says that his concerns over Brexit our

financial rather than political. We will lose massively in signs if we

come out of Europe and we will lose some of the cabala orations we need,

particularly with engineering. -- the collaborations. I think it would

be a disaster for us. Those who want to leave the EU deny his claims. We

have huge respect for Lord Winston, but we move beyond the

superficiality project fear, and to project opportunity. We hear of

threats, but we never hear of what this might deliver for Wales. More

and more countries are working on medical breakthroughs in Wales, work

that has the potential to save lives and boost the economy by creating

Much more to come before 7 o'clock. jobs.

was played in 1971, the performance supposedly left the disappointed

composer in tears - so no pressure for tonight then?!

And it might be the first day of meteorological spring

but a taste of winter again tomorrow.

A full forecast in a few minutes.

How do you celebrate a tenth birthday?

10 years ago today the Queen officially opened the Senedd in

Cardiff Bay - there was no birthday cake but there were Welsh cakes to

celebrate St David's Day, as well as a visit from the man

Carl Roberts spent the day there for us.

A week is a long time in politics. A decade, and eternity. A lot has

happened in this building since it was officially opened ten years ago

today. Royal openings, Olympic parades... And even a Grand Slam

celebration. Some of the uses for the Senedd. Often described as an

iconic building, it cost less than the world-record fee that Real

Madrid paid for Gareth Bale, who cost 85 million, whereas this

building cost ?67 million. And the men who designed it, themselves

icons of the architectural world, are happy with the way that it

turned out. We got that it should serve the public and there should be

a relationship where the public vote people in, the public have a big

domain, and they are above it. It has been amazingly looked after,

considering it has 100,000 visitors each year. It is weathering well. We

know that the investment in the quality of materials, that comes to

show. For many of us, the Senedd feels me. These politics students at

Aberystwyth University visiting today were in primary school when

this building open, and they have grown up with it. The Senedd is then

amazing opportunity for the Welsh people to take control of their own

lives, and they should definitely grab it. At First Minister's

Questions, you can see how they debate with each other, and see how

the issues of the day are being debated with Assembly Members. It

brings it back to the public. The students are among over 1 million

people have visited the Senedd. Staff here have led 30,000 tours of

the building, including visits from hundreds of schools across the

country. For most people, popping into this building is part of a day

out in Cardiff Bay. But for the SME members down there, and for me, it

is a place of work. The politician in charge of the assembly says that

the building has secured a prominent place in Welsh life in a relatively

short time that it has been opened. People have taken it to themselves.

And recently, people came here to express their sympathy over the

events in France. It is used for all sorts of things. This model of the

Senedd is on show in the old assembly building in Cardiff Bay.

The building was designed to last century, so it is only a 10th of the

way through its life span. And there is already plenty to look at it on.

-- look back on. Carl Roberts reporting and if you

want to find out more about how Wales is different to the other

nations in the UK - the "how Wales Works" series has

been running across BBC Wales TV and radio and

online at... Ifor ap Glyn will take up the role

in May - and will write in Welsh. There's no salary but the National

Poet is expected to champion Welsh writing, and compose poems inspired

by significant national events. Our arts and media correspondent Huw

Thomas reports. Ifor ap Glyn is an accomplished

poet and performer. Born and bred in London to Welsh

parents. He is rooted in Canaervon

where he balances poetry with work The new role will be

a boost to his profile. As our national anthem says,

"Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi, Gwlad beirdd a chantorion",

we are a land of poets and singers. Our singers are certainly

internationally renowned. He writes in Welsh and

the language alternates each time a new national

poet is appointed. But a leading authority on poetry

in Wales says it would be better to have two roles,

one for each language. It's a good idea to alternate

between a Welsh It might be an even

better idea to have a two track system of one poet in Welsh

and one writing in English