Screening immediate family members for carrier identification and counseling: a cost-effective and practical approach.

Objective: To screen immediate family members of thalassaemia patients for carrier identification and counselling.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at an urban thalassaemia treatment and prevention centre in Karachi, Pakistan, from January to December 2008, and involved 188 siblings of 100 thalassaemia patients. Complete blood count, including haemogram, was performed in the siblings.