[Prevention of hemoglobinopathies in Brussels: a necessity?].

Haemoglobinopathies are the most frequent genetic diseases in the world. The estimated frequency of carriers in the world is of 200 millions while there is about 300.000 births per year of major forms of haemoglobinopathies. The neonatal screening of haemoglobinopathies performed at the Hospital Erasme on around 80% of births in Brussels since 1994 has demonstrated that the frequency of carriers of an abnormal haemoglobin is around 1.5% while more than 1/2.000 newborns has a major haemoglobinopathy. A strategy must be adopted to manage the haemoglobinopathies in Brussels.