Cost-benefit analysis of G6PD screening in Lebanese newborn males.

A seminal screening technique for G6PD (Glucose-6Phosphate Dehydrogenase) deficiency was first proposed and standardized by Beutler in 1979 [1]. Several improved modifications, like the Solem modification (1985) for example, have since become available on the market [2], and are currently widely used in many screening programs worldwide [3-8]. In Lebanon, a Center for newborn screening of CH, PKU, and G6PD was launched ten years ago. Actually, it covers 20% of the total newborns in Lebanon. Between 1996 and 2004, a cumulative G6PD deficiency incidence of 0.5% was found among about 95,000 babies screened [4] using a Khneisser I, Adib SM, Loiselet J, Megarbane A. Cost-benefit analysis of G6PD screening in Lebanese newborn males. J Med Liban 2007 ; 55 (3) : 129-132. Khneisser I, Adib SM, Loiselet J, Megarbane A. Analyse coutbenefice du depistage du deficit en G6PD chez les nouveau-nes garcons au Liban. J Med Liban 2007 ; 55 (3) : 129-132.