Hansard

I am pleased that Jim Hume has brought to members’ attention once again sudden arrhythmia death syndrome, and I congratulate him on securing the debate. I also add my condolences and my admiration for his decision to attend the debate.

We are all familiar with newspaper headlines—we see them from time to time—about the sudden death of a fit young person on the football pitch, the running track or the rugby field, and we all lament the wasted potential and the lost years to a group of talented, athletic people who are ideal role models for youngsters who aspire to develop their physical talents and fitness. A number of those unexpected deaths are due to the sudden onset of a fatal arrhythmia that could have been prevented if the victim had been screened to detect an underlying heart condition.

SADS was first brought to my attention soon after I became an MSP by the founder of Scottish HART, Wilma Gunn of Selkirk. She has campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness of the syndrome since her son suddenly died as a result of an underlying heart condition. She enlisted my help and made me, along with other MSPs, a patron of Scottish HART. I did what I could at the time to achieve her ambition to have screening carried out on young people to identify young athletes who might be at risk.

Like Christine Grahame, I recall an interesting meeting in St Andrews house with Mrs Gunn, Professor Stewart Hillis, Malcolm Chisholm—the then health minister—and some of the Executive’s health team. The clear advice from the national advisory committee was that such screening of young people was not considered appropriate.

Undaunted by that and supported by Professor Hillis, Wilma Gunn pursued her case and continued to raise awareness of SADS across the country. As we have heard, she raised money for defibrillators and presented them to sporting organisations, including Aberdeen Football Club at Pittodrie. Although those machines do not prevent the occurrence of potential fatal arrhythmias, they have made possible the immediate treatment that offers the only hope of survival to the unfortunate victims.

The cardiac assessment in young athletes pilot programme that is based at the Hampden sports medicine centre and run by Professor Hillis was therefore warmly welcomed when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing launched it just over two years ago. I am delighted that it has been so successful that the Scottish Government has extended it for a further two years, allowing its expansion to include satellite assessment units that can be taken into rural parts of Scotland. The screening of 800-plus people aged between 15 and 25 has revealed a number of cardiac health issues, and early intervention thereafter has prevented the occurrence of more serious complications while allowing the young people concerned to take part in competitive sport, which is particularly important.

I am glad that the prevention of SADS is being taken seriously in this country and that the programme of cardiac screening of young athletes is providing an accurate and informative bank of research data that can be used as a reservoir for the development of future expertise. However, I wonder whether matters would have progressed this far so quickly without the dogged determination of people such as Wilma Gunn to keep up the pressure on Government. We should pay tribute to charities such as Scottish HART and Cardiac Risk in the Young for highlighting the preventable deaths of young people from SADS and for campaigning resolutely to raise awareness of the condition among the population of Scotland.

I hope that the next phase of the screening pilot is as successful as the first and I look forward to the day when all those embarking on strenuous sporting activity can be offered appropriate screening if they so wish, because every preventable death in a young person is a tragedy that should be avoided if at all possible. I am happy to support Jim Hume’s motion and I look forward to the minister’s response.

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