Blood wanted for national blood bank
"The most wonderful thing about cord blood is that it's a pain-free, risk-free way in which families can provide that one match to save another's life," said Sue Smith of the Canadian Blood Services, who is heading the project.
"It's just, to me, so powerful."
"The most wonderful thing about cord blood is that it's a pain-free, risk-free way in which families can provide that one match to save another's life," said Sue Smith of the Canadian Blood Services, who is heading the project.
"It's just, to me, so powerful."
Smith said the bank's main goal will be building up cord-blood samples among different ethnic groups. Since the donated blood must match the patient's blood, the chances of finding a match are much better within the same ethnic group, or gene pool.
The national bank will also link up with donor registries worldwide in a reciprocity agreement.
Umbilical-cord blood is already being used in medical treatment, but the samples are obtained internationally. Canada is one of the few industrialized countries without its own cord blood bank.
Dr. Stuart Turvey, a pediatric immunologist at B.C. Children's Hospital, said a cord-blood bank would be particularly helpful for kids with so-called "bubble boy" disease, who have weak immune systems and need stem-cell or bone-marrow transplants.
"Having a broad-based, national, publicly accessible bank would allow us to achieve good matches for many more children," Turvey said.
Quebec is the only province with its own public cord-blood bank.
Canada's provincial deputy health ministers are meeting in June to approve the business plan for the cord-blood bank, at a cost of $7 to $10 million. It's expected to cost $2 million a year to run it.
A national opinion poll last year found 89 per cent of Canadians support a national bank, and 85 per cent would be interested in donating if they had children.
"It's just, to me, so powerful."
"The most wonderful thing about cord blood is that it's a pain-free, risk-free way in which families can provide that one match to save another's life," said Sue Smith of the Canadian Blood Services, who is heading the project.
"It's just, to me, so powerful."
Smith said the bank's main goal will be building up cord-blood samples among different ethnic groups. Since the donated blood must match the patient's blood, the chances of finding a match are much better within the same ethnic group, or gene pool.
The national bank will also link up with donor registries worldwide in a reciprocity agreement.
Umbilical-cord blood is already being used in medical treatment, but the samples are obtained internationally. Canada is one of the few industrialized countries without its own cord blood bank.
Dr. Stuart Turvey, a pediatric immunologist at B.C. Children's Hospital, said a cord-blood bank would be particularly helpful for kids with so-called "bubble boy" disease, who have weak immune systems and need stem-cell or bone-marrow transplants.
"Having a broad-based, national, publicly accessible bank would allow us to achieve good matches for many more children," Turvey said.
Quebec is the only province with its own public cord-blood bank.
Canada's provincial deputy health ministers are meeting in June to approve the business plan for the cord-blood bank, at a cost of $7 to $10 million. It's expected to cost $2 million a year to run it.
A national opinion poll last year found 89 per cent of Canadians support a national bank, and 85 per cent would be interested in donating if they had children.
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