This may have been because they did not trust the Hb results, the results did not come back quickly enough, or that they did not send the Hb tests and/or wait for the result.1, 21 The use of pallor to screen for severe anemia has good specificity (88%‐95%) but poor sensitivity (27%‐50%) and results in patients who are not severely anemic receiving unnecessary transfusions.22, 23 There is therefore a need to have quality assurance mechanisms to improve the accuracy and rapidity of Hb results available through the laboratory to clinicians. This evidence concerns the gene GSTM1 and anemia (phenotype).