Vampires supposedly escaped from the graves of the non-dead to suck blood, and left their victims exhausted and debilitated. Residents of Transylvania were never in doubt about how debilitating anaemia was for its sufferers.

Unfortunately, this message often appears to be forgotten by doctors here. Anaemia in this country is under-treated in many potentially fatal conditions, especially malignancies. Its effect on every aspect of a patient’s life is either overlooked or under-rated.

Cancer treatment used to be complicated by three scourges — vomiting, pain and the lethargy of anaemia. The first two are now better treated, but the lethargy is cited by patients as their greatest disability.

Two out of three patients with cancer develop anaemia during the course of their disease. When it becomes alarming, British doctors tend to opt for a blood transfusion — the effect of which is short-lived.

Blood is a precious resource needed for those whose lives are at immediate risk from accident, acute haemorrhage, surgical or obstetric bleeding. Transfusion is often not the most efficient way of treating the anaemia that complicates malignancy.

The alternative is erythropoietin (EPO) — a hormone that boosts the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow, often rendering transfusions unnecessary. It’s available as NeoRecormon, Eprex and Aranesp.

It is used less in the UK than in any comparable country in Europe. French doctors use 23 times more than we do, Spain 21, Italy 18 and Germany eight times. As a result, our cancer patients suffer not only more physical symptoms but have a poorer quality of emotional and social life than their European counterparts.