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Frequency of haemoglobinopathies at premarital health screening in Dohuk, Iraq: implications for a regional prevention programme

2010; World Health Organization; Volume: 16; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.26719/2010.16.4.381

1687-1634

Nasir Al‐Allawi, A.A. Al Dousky,

Iron Metabolism and Disorders

beta-thalassaemia major and sickle-cell disease are important health problems in Iraq. To provide information for a prevention programme, the frequency of haemoglobin disorders was mapped in Dohuk governorate. A total of 591 couples (1182 individuals) attending health centres for premarital health screening were tested; 44 (3.7%) were found to be carriers of ,-thalassaemia, 14 (1.2%) of the sickle-cell gene and 1 (0.1%) of deltabeta3-thalassaemia. A total of 3 couples (i.e. 5/1000) were at risk of having a child with beta-thalassaemia major, and the estimated number of affected children with a major haemoglobinopathy was 39 per year. The findings stress the importance of a regional prevention programme for haemoglobinopathies based on premarital screening, counselling and prenatal diagnosis.