ABSTRACT
Newborn screening is a systematic application of tests for early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of certain genetic or metabolic disorders that may lead to mortality and morbidity if untreated. As stated by WHO, each year over 330,000 babies are born worldwide with a severe form of hemoglobinopathy. Newborn screening for hemoglobinopathies could become one of the most important methods of decreasing mortality and morbidity and mitigating rising healthcare costs. The diversity and heterogeneous distribution of hemoglobin disorders make it necessary to develop strategies at the country level. Overall, 499 healthy full term Iranian neonates were screened for hemoglobinopathies who were originated from Fars province in southern part of Iran. The screening was performed on cord blood samples collected on EDTA. Following sample collection, complete blood cell count cell indices, osmotic fragility test and hemoglobin electrophoresis were performed. Total prevalence of significant hematologic abnormal findings was 12.4% in this study, the most prevalent one was Alpha thalassemia [6.4%] followed by hereditary spherocytosis [4.8%], and sickle cell anemia [1.2%]. The total analysis for detection of Alpha thalassemia by mean corpuscular volume [MCV]