The country’s leading public hospital is looking to establish a blood bank for newborn children
Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen is applying to the Health Ministry to set up Denmark’s first public blood bank containing blood from the umbilical cords of new born babies.
Currently, only private sector umbilical cord banks exist. Parents can pay up to 25,000 kroner to have their baby’s umbilical cord frozen for possible use against future diseases.
Cord blood contains immature stem cells which can be used for bone marrow transplants in the treatment of leukaemia.
When Danish doctors want to use cord blood in the treatment of diseases today, they have to take it from one of 107 international public blood banks, reports Kristeligt-Dagblad newspaper.
‘Depending on political goodwill and financial backing, we hope to get started within a year,’ said Anne Fischer-Nielsen of the Clinical Immunology Department of Rigshospitalet.
She added that the stem cell rich blood would only be used for patients with blood disorders.
Private cord bank StemCare has 4500 Danish clients and welcomed the news of a possible public sector bank as it would ‘act as a seal of approval’.
The chairman of the parliamentary health committee Preben Rudiengaard also reacted positively to the proposal saying a stem cell bank at Rigshospitalet would be an ideal way for the public sector to enter the cord bank market.
The Copenhagen Post
http://www.denmark.dk/en/servicemenu/news/generalnews/babybloodbank.htm
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