‘ Pool banking is better than cord blood banking’

Experts back resource pooling during treatment of blood- related ailments

Claiming that in the treatment of blood- related diseases, UCBT ( Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant) has a much higher success rate as compared to BMT ( Bone Marrow Transplant), health experts talks about ensuring the effective use of umbilical cord blood stem cells by pooling the resources.

Experts said that parents who are considering umbilical cord blood banking for their newborns consider pool banking, which allows access to each other’s cord blood unit when needed.

Director, Haemat- ology and BMT at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Dr Rahul Bhargava said that as of now, UCBT is reportedly being used to treat around 80 conditions, and in near future with on going global research, the figure is likely to reach 300 plus.

Experts claim that due to lack of discourses on public platforms, people generally don’t know what is best for them while privately banking their cord blood units. Experts highlighted that with a high birth rate of close to 26 million children a year, India has a potential to become an epicenter of UCBT.

“Claims indicate that around 5 lakh cord blood units have been preserved in the private banks since a decade in India. Unfortunately, these units have not helped to reduce the huge burden of hematological disorders that come within the scope of treatment using a cord blood stem cell unit.

This is because all of these units have been preserved for self- use and without HLA typing renders, the banked cord blood unit in most cases unusable,” said director, paediatric hemato oncology and BMT, Medanta, Dr Satya Prakash Yadav.

‘ Mycord’, a vertical of Cellugen Biotech with its expertise in stem cell research brought the concept of pool banking in November 2016. But experts, however, believe that UCBT rate in India will continue to be low.

◗ Experts claim that due to lack of discourses on public platforms, people generally don’t know what is best for them while privately banking their cord blood units