Some time ago I did a study on this and found that sufferers of the condition and parents of sufferers were more likely to listen to suggestions about informed choices on partners than those who were carriers or who had no experience of the condition.
Several studies have dealt with the influence of premarital screening of SCD and genetic counselling in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia or Bahrain and have shown a marked reduction of the “at-risk” marriages. I am not aware of similar published studies in sub-Saharan Africa. In France and the UK, we have a large population of first-generation emigrants from sub-Saharan Africa. In Paris, about 2/3 of our SCD patients are African and presently 66% of the newborns have at least one parent belonging to populations “at risk”. We perform newborn screening but not premarital screening nor systematic screening of young adults. We have a Centre for free screening and counselling sickle cell carriers but people visiting the Centre are mostly couples referred to the Centre because they have given birth to a baby that is a carrier, i.e. after the partner choice has been done. Of course, genetic counselling is also offered to women who have had an affected child. We have data on how African women at risk perceive the disease after information and genetic counselling and how it may influence their reproductive behaviour, but once again this is after the partner choice has been done. Studies coming from African countries like the one you conducted in Ghana would be extremely informative. Have you published your results?
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