HP and malaria: Polymorphisms of the haptoglobin (HP) gene and deletions in the α-globin gene (α-thalassaemia) are very common in malaria-endemic Africa (Williams et al., 2005; Atkinson et al., 2007) and both the HP2-2 polymorphism and α-thalassaemia have been associated with protection against malaria (Williams et al., 2005; Atkinson et al., 2006, 2007; Wambua et al., 2006).