Sickle cell disease screening

A special type of filter paper cards are required to collect "heel stick" samples from infants in order that they might be batched and used at a later date as part of a screening program for certain illnesses such as sickle cell disease.  As I started brainstorming the screening project for Koutiala, I found out that there are only 2 companies in the US that make these cards and one of these companies just happens to be located in Greenville, SC (where I live).  I contacted the company, ID Biological, about a year ago and met with the president of the company with the presentation that you can see below this post.  The company blessed us with 5000 neonatal screening cards for free and is hopeful that they will be able to provide cards either free or at cost for the life of the program.  We originally only asked for 2000 cards and they decided to give us even more.  This was a huge blessing!  Check out the presentation below to find out more about the severity of sickle cell disease in Mali and the potential impact of screening on a wide scale.