Anaesthesia is complicated by comorbidity, with a variety of diseases endemic to tropical regions that pose specific prob- lems for the anaesthetist. With increasing global travel, these diseases are no longer geographically limited to the tropics, so it is useful to have an appreciation of the impact that these illnesses, and their treatments, may have on the approach to anaesthesia. Tropical illnesses include not only those communicable diseases endemic to given geographical re- gions, but overlap with conditions of the extreme poverty, which is often prevalent in these areas.