2011年1月13日 星期四
Cord blood storage a No-Brainer
By David John Walker Jan 13th, 2011
Conservative MP Colin Carrie for Oshawa, Ontario, is paying a private company $100 a year to store blood harvested from his daughter’s umbilical cord. Carrie said more people are becoming aware of this valuable service. “ For me $100 a year for an insurance policy on me daughter, it was a No-brainer”
Stem cells are used to treat an expanding list of diseases including Leukemias and immune and blood disorders, and cord blood has been replacing bone marrow as the source of preference. Carrie explains that collecting cord blood from his daughter’s umbilical cord when she was born nine years ago, and paying a private cord blood bank to store is like having an insurance policy for her.
If the donor becomes sick in the future, or a relation of the donor gets sick, the cord blood will be available to use for stem cell treatment. However, critics say the value of a private blood bank is not clear, and it would better if cord blood were donated to a public bank so it would be available for anyone who needs it.
Carrie, a parliamentary secretary to Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said his daughter is healthy, and the cord blood may never be needed, but it’s a worth while investment. Asked whether Canada should have a national public bank, Carrie said Canadians should have access to a cord blood bank, and suggested there could be both public and blood bank. “At the end of the day, what choices Canadians want to make, I think Canadians would like to have as many choices as possible”, he said.
Source: Seer Press News
Conservative MP Colin Carrie for Oshawa, Ontario, is paying a private company $100 a year to store blood harvested from his daughter’s umbilical cord. Carrie said more people are becoming aware of this valuable service. “ For me $100 a year for an insurance policy on me daughter, it was a No-brainer”
Stem cells are used to treat an expanding list of diseases including Leukemias and immune and blood disorders, and cord blood has been replacing bone marrow as the source of preference. Carrie explains that collecting cord blood from his daughter’s umbilical cord when she was born nine years ago, and paying a private cord blood bank to store is like having an insurance policy for her.
If the donor becomes sick in the future, or a relation of the donor gets sick, the cord blood will be available to use for stem cell treatment. However, critics say the value of a private blood bank is not clear, and it would better if cord blood were donated to a public bank so it would be available for anyone who needs it.
Carrie, a parliamentary secretary to Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said his daughter is healthy, and the cord blood may never be needed, but it’s a worth while investment. Asked whether Canada should have a national public bank, Carrie said Canadians should have access to a cord blood bank, and suggested there could be both public and blood bank. “At the end of the day, what choices Canadians want to make, I think Canadians would like to have as many choices as possible”, he said.
Source: Seer Press News
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