SNP conference: £150,000 boost for heart screening programme

A MEDICAL screening programme that detects heart defects in promising young athletes is to be given an extra £150,000 to extend it for two years.

The Scottish Health Secretary announced that the cash will be made available to the Cardiac Assessment of Young Athletes programme at the SNP conference in Perth.

The innovative scheme was the first programme of its kind to be launched in Scotland, and since October 2009, 816 amateur athletes between the ages of 15 and 25 have taken part in it.

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The pilot scheme is run by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Football Association and Glasgow University. It offers a series of tests to determine if tomorrow's sports stars are at risk of sudden cardiac death. The scheme has so far found more than 400 instances of youngsters who exhibited risk factors ranging from mild to serious.

Nicola Sturgeon said: "I hope that the expansion of this innovative programme will give many more young athletes the opportunity to be assessed."