Commercial blood banking 'should be discouraged'
Maternity units commercially bank umbilical cord blood
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Friday, 13, Oct 2006 08:29
NHS maternity units should not be encouraged to commercially bank umbilical cord blood, a senior doctor has warned.
Public cord blood banks collect blood that has been altruistically donated and then use it to treat unrelated recipients or for family members with a known genetic disorder that can be treated by blood stem cell transplantation.
But as umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells that can target diseases such as childhood leukaemia, interest has grown as people view it as insurance against future disease in their children.
Writing in this week's British Medical Journal (BMJ), Dr Leroy Edozien, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester, argues that this has worrying implications for NHS services and little chance of benefit.
"It should…be NHS policy not to facilitate umbilical cord blood collection by its staff," he said.
Scientific arguments outlined by Dr Leroy against commercially collecting the blood for 'just in case' reasons include the chances of the blood used being very small.
"The idea of a midwife or doctor spending time on cord blood collection when other women need care, and in the face of a staffing (particularly midwifery) shortage, raises ethical questions," he argues.
"Given the logistical burden it imposes, routine on-demand collection of umbilical cord blood for commercial storage calls for dedicated resources. In the context of the NHS, such resources are better directed to meet broader and more pressing needs."