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People with certain neuromuscular conditions, such as motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis, are eligible for antiviral medication The eligibility criteria for direct access to new COVID-19 treatments were developed by an independent expert working group commissioned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care and is based on detailed clinical evidence. The criteria are set out in a UK-wide clinical commissioning policy . The policy targets those higher risk individuals who have the potential to both be least likely to generate a material immune response to vaccines and be at highest risk of disease progression, hospitalisation and death.

Further information is available on NHS Inform .

In addition to the direct access arrangements described above for the most vulnerable, coronavirus oral antiviral treatments are being evaluated through a UK-wide study called PANORAMIC, run by the University of Oxford. Full details about the eligibility criteria for the study can be found at: https://www.panoramictrial.org/

The outcomes from the study will enable the NHS to fully understand how best to make use of these treatments in the future.

Mental Health remains an absolute priority for the Scottish Government, and we are committed to ensuring that everyone who needs support can get access to services that are appropriate to their needs. Through this approach we recognise that long term conditions can impact a person's mental wellbeing. We encourage anyone struggling with their mental health and wellbeing to approach their clinical support team in the first instance, who can advise on appropriate support avenues. Information can also be found on the NHS Inform website.

The Scottish Government is currently developing a new site to support the mental wellbeing of the general public in Scotland. The website will offer tips and advice from mental health experts and related professionals and people with lived experience of mental health issues. The website will include a range of resources that are accessible to people disproportionately affected by mental health problems. The Scottish Government plan to launch these resources by Spring 2022.

Scottish Government is a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) partnership. Since 2015, the SALFS has equipped more than 640,000 people in Scotland with CPR skills. Over the same time period the rate of people surviving an Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Scotland has increased from one in 20 to one in 10.

In March 2021, the partnership published an updated strategy, which can be found at: Out of hospital cardiac arrest: strategy 2021 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Within this, there is a clear commitment to working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that all school aged children have the opportunity to learn CPR. SALFS partners continue to work collaboratively to implement the strategy.

The Scottish Government has committed to increasing public investment in social care by 25 per cent during the current parliamentary session. This is expected to equate to £840 million additional annual investment by the end of this parliament and will support plans for the delivery of commitments relating to social care, including the creation of a National Care Service.

These plans are currently being developed and will be considered by Ministers and by Parliament in due course, taking account responses to the National Care Service Consultation, input from stakeholders and the forthcoming Resource Spending Review to ensure that services are sustainable and best meet the needs of those who access care, and those who deliver care.

The safety of children, young people and education staff remains our overriding priority. All school pupils have already been impacted dramatically over the course of the pandemic so we remain committed to minimising any further disruption to learning.

New data and evidence is regularly emerging, informing our understanding of virus transmission in different settings, including schools and nurseries. This is considered very carefully by the Advisory Sub-group on Education and Children’s Issues alongside rates of vaccination and the specific level of risks associated with education environments and in wider society. This means that Scottish Government guidance for schools is developed in close consultation with clinical and public health experts, as well as taking into account the views of a number of education and other stakeholders who sit on the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group (CERG).

The guidance has recently been updated to reflect the advice of the Advisory Sub-group, including the removal of the requirement for staff and pupils to wear face coverings in the classroom and the easing of specific mitigations relating to assemblies and transition visits for learners who are to be starting Primary or Secondary school in August 2022. This represents the most up to date position in relation to protection measures in schools, which will commence from 28 February.

We will continue to be guided by the evidence in assessing any continued risk from COVID-19 and take into consideration any new evidence linking the development of other conditions, such as type 1 diabetes in children, to infection with COVID-19.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey provides an annual summary of key issues and trends in diabetes care and treatment in Scotland. The 2020 Survey was published in January of this year and can be found by following link: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/publications/#survey-docs.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey shows information on ethnicity from NHS Boards in Scotland is available for 81.7% of the registered population with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

FFP3 respirator masks can be worn when working in the respiratory pathway in a clinical area deemed as having an unacceptable risk of transmission by the NHS Board. This would be initiated by an environmental risk assessment and rigorous application of the Hierarchy of Controls (HoC).

This is a matter for individual Health Boards. We do not hold this information centrally.

Scotland’s next census will be held on Sunday 20 March 2022, with letters arriving in households across Scotland from today (28 February), providing instructions on how to take part.

Scotland’s census is the official count of every person and household in the country and the only questionnaire of its kind to ask everyone the same questions at the same time.

It is the responsibility of National Records of Scotland (NRS) to put in place a census that enables everyone across Scotland to participate so that information collected can be used to produce high quality outputs and deliver the benefits required by the people of Scotland. For the first time, Scotland’s Census 2022 will ask a question about previous service in the UK Armed Forces and voluntary questions on trans status or history and sexual orientation, for those over 16.

Scotland’s Census provides people, businesses and organisations with high quality data and analysis which is used to inform key decisions in relation to policy making, investment decisions and the planning and delivery of key services. The census also helps paint a rich picture of the of the population, helping us to better understand the similarities and differences in the population’s characteristics locally and nationally, now and over time. The census also becomes part of our history. In the future our descendants will be able to find out about us and how we lived.

This will be the first census to take place since the Scottish Government pledged to make public services “digital first”, recognising that this is now a favoured channel for many. This approach will also deliver a number of benefits in terms of ease of completion and accessibility for respondents. It is important however that all households are able to complete their census return, with paper questionnaires available upon request. Help and support will also be available for those who need it via a dedicated contact centre and the Scotland’s Census website.

I urge members to help ensure a successful census by encouraging maximum participation amongst all communities across Scotland.

As of 31st January 2022, 54,726 women in Scotland have waited more than 36 months since their last breast screen. Data presented in relation to S6W-06127 on 28 February 2022 sets out the average length of time between screening appointments by screening centre. Historically, the Scottish Breast screening Programme has invited around 260,000 women per year. In 2019-20 just under 270,000 women were invited.

The programme continues to recover from the March 2020 Covid-19 related pause, and the National Screening Oversight, Scottish Screening Committee and Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB) continue to work with health boards to increase the number of available appointments, including through deploying additional mobile breast screening units and providing additional appointments during evenings and at weekends.

It should be noted that the data provided is management information that has not been subject to quality checks applied on an official publication.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers