The changing epidemiology of β-thalassemia in the Greek-Cypriot population.

The first epidemiological study for thalassemia in Cyprus was performed by Fawdry in 1946. The study determined that the frequency of β-thalassemia (β-thal) carriers was around 18.0% and that of α(0)-thal carriers (individuals with both cis α-globin genes inactive) at around 2.