Prevalence of haemoglobinopathies in Sulaimani-Iraq

Abstract EN

Background Thalassaemia major is an important health problem in Sulaimani, a large province at Northeastern Iraq, and the need to initiate a preventive program for this potentially fatal disorder is paramount.

As a prerequisite to such program this study was initiated to map the province for hemoglobinopathies.

Material and Methods A total of 1472 subjects (736 couples) attending Sulaimani premarital Health centre were screened using red cell indices and sickling test.

For those who had MCV<80 fl and/or MCH < 27 pg or had a positive sickling test, this was followed by Hemoglobin HPLC and iron studies Results Based on above investigations, 61 individuals (4.14%) were found to have ß- thalassaemia minor, 4 (0.27%) sickle cell trait, 2 (0.14%) Hb C trait, and 2 (0.14%) δß-thalassaemia minor, and one (0.07%) had Hereditary Hemoglobin F Persistence (HPFH) homozygous state.

Moreover, 49 individuals (3.3%) had α- thalassaemia, including one with Hb H disease (0.07 %).

The study also revealed a consanguinity rate of 24.3% among the screened couples.

Conclusions The high prevalence rate of ß- thalassaemia carrier state and consanguinity, among premarital couples should further strengthen the need for initiating a preventive program for hemoglobinopathies in this region.