It was certainly a special occasion at Landau Forte College yesterday as more than 100 people underwent cardiac screening. 

And yet it should not have been viewed as special at all. 

Given that a dozen young people a week in this country die from undiagnosed heart problems, you might imagine such checks ought to be essential. 

But not in this country, where some extraordinary logic exists in our priorities in how we monitor health. 

We're expected to have our teeth checked every six months.  Fail to stick to that schedule and there is every chance that your dentist will drop you from his r her NHS list. 

Having grotty teeth is to be avoided, of course.  It can lead to considerable pain.  But it is most unlikely to kill you - though we recognised dental checks have been known to highlight cancers which might otherwise have gone undetected. 

But cardiac checks are surely much more essential.  Instances of  young people, apparently in absolutely prime fitness, being fatally struck down by heart problems have brought grief to more than one Derby family in recent weeks. 

One such case was that of 15-year-old Reece Jeffrey, who died while playing football, and whose tragedy prompted  yesterday's health checks. 

Reece was a Landau Forte pupil.  Using donations that have flooded in since his death, his family arranged for physiologists to come from London to carry out electrocardiogram tests at the school. 

The Reece Jeffrey Foundation is donating £5,000 to Cardiac Risk in the Young. 

In return, the organisation agreed to carry out yesterday's tests for £35 per person, rather than the usual private screening charge of about £95. 

As it happens, it seems no heart defects were detected - but the peace of mind the checks will have brought is obviously. 

We're all well aware of the threadbare state of the public purse.  We hear of very little else. 

But, as Reece's mother, Lisa, points out, elsewhere in Europe it is a legal requirement that teenagers taking part in sport have such ECG screening. 

It sounds like common sense.  Would the cost to the NHS really be £95 per person if it was introduced on a bigger scale, maybe through school visits'? 

In any event, the European Society of Cardiology and Interational Olympic Committee are among organisations that have called for screening to be mandatory for taking part in competitive sport. 

In the UK we insist that every vehicle has to have an annual MOT test to confirm its roadworthiness. 

It's a pretty warped set of priorities that does not extend the same requirement to its population.

Do we really love our children more than our cars?