Public Cord Blood Banking
Recently, doctors all over the world have suggested the possibility of setting up public cord blood banking as a way to ensure immediate availability of umbilical cord blood for cancer patients. The idea seems attractive, but as with most things, there are certain factors that stand in the way of its implementation.
How it would work
In theory, public cord blood banking will work in the same way that most other blood banks work. Birthing mothers will donate their baby's umbilical cord blood to a local public cord blood bank. This bank will be responsible for storing it until the time it will be needed. At this point, the cord blood becomes public property. This means that anyone who needs it can purchase it from the cord blood bank. In contrast, private cord blood banks these days allow only a one-to-one or one-to-some correspondence between donor and recipient. This means that the recipient of a certain unit of cord blood can only be either the actual donor or one of the donor's siblings. Usually, families have to pay a lot of money to avail of the service of preserving their children's cord blood. The proponents of public cord blood banking argue that providing this service should be done with the interest of the general public's health in mind and not just the well-being of a select few. Also, they argue that if private cord blood banking continues, a child born with a congenital malignancy will not be helped by getting a transplant of his or her own cord blood.
As it is now, there are several public umbilical cord blood banks that are open to the public in the United States and only one in Canada . There are an estimated 30 public cord blood banks worldwide today.
Potential pitfalls
The biggest consideration in putting up public cord blood banks is money. How much should it charge its clients so that it could make a profit and recoup the cost of cryogenically maintaining umbilical cord blood at the same time? If it sells its cord blood for too much, then that would mean fewer patients would be able to avail of its services. On the other hand, if the cord blood is sold too cheap, then the cord blood bank would soon go out of business.
Most public cord blood banks today rely on donations from foundations and large companies to sustain themselves, but even that has not been enough. This dilemma of where to get funds has yet to be resolved. However, expectant mothers who are in favor of stem cell research and want to do a good deed are still very much encouraged to donate to a local public cord blood bank.