How much it has invested in the last year in (a) Down’s syndrome (i) research and (ii) screening and (b) support for people with Down’s syn…

(a) i) The Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory (SLDO) are one of the key strategic partners of the Scottish Government and are core funded through the Keys to Life Learning Disabilities strategy. Within their work plan, SLDO has investigated the fall in termination rates in Down syndrome pregnancies in Scotland, the most common additional physical health needs that adults with Down syndrome experience, and the impact of age and gender on these and survival rate of infants and children born with Down syndrome in Scotland, and their health needs/reasons for hospital admissions in childhood/youth compared with people without Down syndrome
There have been no applications for research projects on Down’s Syndrome submitted to, or funded by, the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office in the last year.
ii) Screening for Down’s Syndrome is the responsibility of local Health Boards. Funding for this forms part of the NHS financial allocation for each Board.
b) Down's Syndrome Scotland (DSS) are one of the key national delivery partners of the Keys to Life, Scotland's national Learning Disabilities strategy. The Scottish Government have provided £225,000 of fund to DSS in 2016-17 and £264,000 in 2017-18. We have invested this money to support core DSS functions as well as for project related activity. Part of this funding has also been used to support DSS in hosting next year's World Down Syndrome Congress, which will take place in Glasgow from 25-27 July 2018.