It is passed down from healthy parents who are carriers:

• Carriers does not show any illness, but may pass on to the next generation
• Thalassaemia Minor (i.e. carrier) occurs when ONE of the parents is also a carrier
• Thalassaemia Major only occurs in families when BOTH parents are carriers.

Throughout our life, the body makes red blood cells inside the bones based on biological information passed on to us by our parents. We get half the information from our father and half from our mother. Which half of the father's or mother's information we get is a matter of luck. Neither they nor we have any choice.

If one of our parents passes on healthy information and the other passes on information with mistakes, we will be healthy and still make perfect red blood cells. However, we will still be carrying the thalassaemia trait.

If a person has the thalassaemia trait, many of his or her relatives may also have it. If you know of someone who has the trait, kindly advise their famiy members to go for blood test as well.