Sickle cell disorders affect millions of people around the world. It is most common among people whose ancestors come from Africa; Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Turkey, and Italy; the Arabian Peninsula; India; and Spanish-speaking regions in South America, Central America, and parts of the Caribbean.
It is the most common hemoglobinopathy in the United States. According the the North Alabama Sickle Cell foundation, one in ten African-American has the sickle cell trait, while one in 500 African-Americans has sickle cell disease. For Hispanic-Americans, those numbers are one in 100 for the trait and one in 1000-1400 for the disease.
Overall, in the US, approximately 2,000,000 have sickle cell trait and about 100,000 have the homozygous disease.
