600 ‘healthy’ young people die needlessly every year
HUNDREDS of young people are dying needlessly every year due to a lack of access to heart screening, a charity warns today.
More than 600 seemingly healthy under-35s die every year from undiagnosed conditions.
Many of these deaths could be prevented if more young people were offered heart checks at school or in their community, according to Cardiac Risk in the Young.
Dr Steven Cox, the charity’s chief executive, has today written to
Health Secretary Matt Hancock demanding urgent action to prevent further deaths. He condemned the Government’s failure to act as “completely unacceptable”.
In a letter shared with the Daily Express, he said: “Every week in the UK, 12 apparently fit and healthy young people die suddenly from undiagnosed conditions.
“Eighty per cent of these deaths occur with no prior symptoms, often at rest or during sleep, with no one there to help. The only way to save these young lives is to identify the underlying problems that could cause a sudden cardiac arrest. That is why proactive screening is so important.”
At the moment CRY provides screenings for young people itself.
The service is almost entirely paid for by the fundraising of bereaved family and friends of young people who have died, such as Heather Reid, mother of tragic Alex.
Tragedies
Debate has raged about whether screening should be widely offered to young people.
Dr Cox said: “Screening is already routine for many young people, including professional athletes and those who choose to go into the armed services or train to become pilots.
“In sport, 75 per cent of those identified with serious conditions will be able to return to competition after treatment and/or surgery.
“The best scientific research has shown an 89 per cent reduction in young sudden deaths after screening. The ECG is one of the most important heart tests used within the NHS and CRY believes every young person should have the opportunity to have their heart checked. Surely it should not be down to the bereaved to raise the funds to support those at greatest risk.”
Since CRY was founded in 1995, about 15,000 young people have died of undetected heart conditions.
Families raise more than £1million every year to help CRY provide screening for 14-35 year olds. They raise a further £2.8million to support research into the prevention of tragedies as well as funding expert pathology services and specialist bereavement support.
Dr Cox will call on the Government to develop a national strategy to identify the key areas in urgent need of investment.
More than 180 MPs have signed a pledge to support the development of a national strategy. They include Home Secretary Priti Patel, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth
and Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson. But a review by the National Screening Committee reported in June that it would not recommend population screening.
CRY’s consultant cardiologist Professor Sanjay Sharma, based at St George’s University of London, said: “The ECG is the most cost effective test that we’ve got.
“With at least a decade of hard work through CRY research – whereby around 200,000 young people have been screened – we have been able to refine the type of ECG patterns that really do identify young people at risk of sudden cardiac death.
“My vision is to see cardiac screening for all young people made available across the UK, at national centres, overseen by the experts funded and trained by CRY who would also then manage the care of all those young people we diagnose.” A Department of Health spokesman said: “We are determined to help everyone live a long, healthy and happy life.
“The NHS will soon carry out mobile heart checks as part of a longterm plan to prevent tens of thousands of strokes and heart attacks over the next 10 years.
“There’s no current evidence to suggest widespread screening reduces the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.”
● To make a donation to CRY, visit c-r-y.org.uk