Twelve people under the age of 35 die every week from undiagnosed heart conditions across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, it has been claimed. 

The figure is said to represent a 30 per cent increase on previous estimates and yesterday at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast a campaign was launched by charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) to urge people to write to politicians to raise awarene3ss of the need for cardiac screening.

CRY's postcard campaign highlights the deaths of 121 young people from the Province of undiagnosed fatal heart conditions. 

The charity believes that loss of life at an early age could be avoided if more young people underwent screening, as it is claimed that 80 per cent of young people that die do not have any prior symptoms. 

CRY currently offers a screening programme for the 14 to 35 age group at the CRY Screening Clinic at the University of Ulster at Jordanstown.