Sickle cell disease is currently a disease for which newborn screening is available, mandated, and routinely performed in the United States.^[1]

Screening for sickle cell disease was first offered in 1975 but had not been performed routinely.^[2] By the 1980s, most states were performing newborn screening, based on evidence showing that early administration of antibiotics in patients with known sickle cell disease improved outcomes.^[3] People who are known carriers of the disease often undergo genetic counseling before they have a child. A test to see if an unborn child has the disease takes either a blood sample from the unborn or a sample of amniotic fluid. Since taking a blood sample from a fetus has risks, the latter test is usually used. Currently, all 50 states in the USA require newborn screening for sickle cell disease.^[1] It is important to note that there can be false-positive and false-negative results with newborn screening. This may cause overdiagnosis or underdiagnosis, respectively, of sickle-cell disease. The preferred test for screening is haemoglobin electrophoresis. ^[4] Multiple Point Of Care(POC) screening tests like Sickle scan, ^[5] HemoType SC ^[6] have been developed to be used in resource-limited setting with promising results.