Abstract
The incidence of beta-thalassaemia trait among Cypriots in London is about 14%, and the birth rate of children with thalassaemia major is 0.6%. The high incidence of the beta-thalassaemia gene among Cypriots suggests the desirability of screening Cypriot school-leavers for thalassaemia trait and following up any incidentally discovered cases with family studies and genetic counselling.