EHA 2021 | Systematic, point-of-care newborn screening for SCD in Mali

Alan Anderson, MD, Prisma Health, Columbia, SC, gives an overview of a study assessing the feasibility and efficacy of systematic point-of-care newborn screening for sickle cell disease (SCD) at a rural hospital in Mali, a land-locked West African country with a high burden of SCD. Traditional wide-scale diagnostic methods using isoelectric focusing (IEF) or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) have been limited in Mali due to lack of laboratory equipment and trained personnel, unreliable supply chain, and expenses. Therefore, point-of-care testing is an important strategy to implement systematic newborn screening for SCD. The study offered screening with the Hemotype SC™ POC test kit, which only requires capillary blood samples and unfiltered tap water, no other reagents. From the 4774 infants screened during the study period, 95 infants (2.04%) were found to have SCD and were referred to the SCD outpatient treatment program. This interview took place at the virtual European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress 2021.