Outcome of a school screening programme for carriers of haemoglobin disease.

Objectives: To assess the impact of a screening programme for haemoglobinopathies which was organised from 1978 to 1985 in high secondary schools of the Marseille region.

Methods: Several variables that reflected the influence of this preventive programme on the uptake of prenatal diagnosis were investigated. To evaluate the partner's uptake for the testing, a letter was sent, together with an anonymous questionnaire, to all the haemoglobin carriers detected in this programme.