Screening for hemoglobinipathy in Beja tribes and other minor groups living in Port Sudan City

Hemoglobinopathies prevalence and distribution among ethnic groups inhabiting the Red Sea State in Sudan were not reported till date. Accordingly, this study has been conducted to address this problem in that area. The study was a cross-sectional descriptive one conducted in Port Sudan city to screen for hemoglobinopathy in anaemic patients referred to three major centers. The study population included 209 patients, 54% males and 46% females with age between 1 and 98 years. Five milliliters of blood were drawn from each subject for CBC (Sysmex KX21), peripheral blood films and hemoglobin electrophoresis using capillary electrophoresis. The results showed that hemoglobinopathy was detected in 59 (28.22%) subjects of whom 26 (44.06%) showed electrophoretic patterns of sickle cell anaemia, 29 (49.15%) Beta thalassaemia trait, 2 (3.38%) hemoglobin D trait, 1 (1.69%) hemoglobin E trait and 1 (1.69%) showed Beta thalassaemia major. The study concluded that occurrence of these frequencies in this population indicated that the target group have hemoglobinopathy and recommended that patients with hemoglobin below lower limits of normal, MCV and MCH lower than 78fl and 27 pg, respectively should be screened for hemoglobinopathy, besides the establishment of a center for diagnosis and control of hemoglobinopathy in that area. Key words: Hemoglobinopathy, Beja tribe, red sea variants, thalassaemia.