Sickle cell disorders affect millions of people worldwide. They are most common among people whose ancestors came 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 to the North Alabama Sickle Cell Foundation, one in ten African Americans 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, approximately 2,000,000 people in the US have sickle cell trait, and about 100,000 have homozygous disease.
