Hemoglobinopathy: molecular epidemiological characteristics and health effects on Hakka people in the Meizhou region, southern China.

Background: Hemoglobinopathies are the most common inherited diseases in southern China. However, there have been only a few epidemiological studies of hemoglobinopathies in Guangdong province.

Materials And Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 15299 "healthy" unrelated subjects of dominantly ethnic Hakka in the Meizhou region, on which hemoglobin electrophoresis and routine blood tests were performed.