There is already strong evidence that malaria is one of the major causes of anaemia in malaria-endemic areas with severe anaemia as a most common malaria complication in these settings [23–26], the pathogenesis of which is not clearly understood but is thought to be a combination of haemolysis of red blood cells, activation of the reticulo-endothelial system leading to destruction of uninfected red cells, auto-immune destruction of red cells, defective production of erythropoietin and bone marrow depression [27, 28]. The gene discussed is EPO; the disease is anemia (phenotype).