Objectives Thalassaemia, a genetic blood disorder, is a major public health burden. Most affected individuals reside in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).
Screening programmes can reduce incidence, but in resource-constrained settings cost-effectiveness is important. This work aimed to investigate how economic evaluations of thalassaemia screening programmes have been conducted globally, to identify best practices for future evaluation suited to a LMIC context.
Design Systematic literature review. Data sources The original review was undertaken between May and July 2023; an update was completed between November and December 2025.
Electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, Health Technology Assessment Database, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), economic databases (Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry) and grey literature (including conference proceedings) were searched. Additional validation searches were conducted in Google Scholar to identify relevant studies not indexed in the electronic databases.
Eligibility criteria Studies were screened against pre-specified criteria by two independent reviewers. Eligible articles reported an economic evaluation of a thalassaemia screening programme for pregnant women or children aged 2 years or younger in any geographic setting.
BMJ Open published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 06 May 2026.
The item focuses on Systematic review of economic evaluations in thalassaemia screening programmes globally: developing guidance for low- and middle-income (LMIC) settings.
Review the original article for the full source wording and details.