National newborn screening for sickle cell disease and communication of carrier status

Abstract

Portugal is currently implementing a pilot project to screen for sickle cell disease during national newborn screening. This project started in the region of Lisbon and the Tagus valley where there is a higher frequency of African population. Anticipating the expansion of this screening to the rest of the national territory, a question arises: how to deal with cases of identified sickle cell trait carriers?