Inherited haemoglobinopathies are unlikely to play a major role in anaemia in this population, as previous studies in this region reported 83 % of subjects to have normal Hb genotype, and only 8, 7 and 1 % carried an S allele, C allele, and had sickle cell anaemia, respectively [12]. This evidence concerns the gene GSTM1 and hemoglobinopathy.