Community-based program for the diagnosis and prevention of genetic disorders in Cuba. Twenty years of experience

The author's experience of 20 years as director of the medical genetic services program in Cuba is presented. The setting of the infrastructure for equipment and the training of personnel for the medical genetic program began in 1981 in the city of Havana, and was progressively extended to cover the whole country in 1988. Between 1982 and 2002, 2.8 million pregnant women were tested for sickle cell carrier status, 96,000 carriers and 4,786 couples at risk were detected and offered genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. In the same period, the combination of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening and fetal ultrasound led to the prenatal diagnosis of anomalies in several thousand fetuses. The accessibility to legal abortion, and the autonomous decisions by the majority of couples to terminate abnormal pregnancies reduced the prevalence of neural tube defects and sickle cell disease at birth by 90 and 65%, respectively, by 2002. In the span of approximately 20 years, 22,690 pregnant women at risk received prenatal chromosomal diagnosis. Newborn screening for phenylketonuria and congenital hypothyroidism was established. Genetic counseling was offered to every detected person or family at risk for genetic conditions. The network of medical genetic services established in the country received a very positive acceptance by the population. A very successful connection with the primary health care level was established.