SINGAPORE - Wealthy Thai mothers are flocking to a cord blood banking service to "deposit" their new born babies' blood in what is hoped to be a precautionary measure should their kids need stem cell transplants in future. Stem cell transplants would be required for their children if they were to develop lethal blood-related complications like thalassemia and leukemia.
Health officials in Thailand said that such facilities are not available at present in their country. The Bangkok Post says that Dr Nisarat Kasatri of the Samitivej Hospital was able to see to it that 10 to 15 percent of Thai mothers had agreed to pay vast amounts to transfer and store their baby's cord blood in Singapore.
''If they can afford it and think it will be useful in the future, these mothers agree to pay for the storage,'' said Dr Nisarat. ''But the storage cost is more expensive than the transplant cost. So some patients think it might not be worthwhile as there will be a slim chance of using it.'' It is estimated that the storage of cord blood costs about 50,000 baht in the first year and 6,000 baht for the subsequent years.
The storage life of cord blood is up to 20 years, according to Steven Fang, head of Cygenics. This company offers cord blood storage facilities to Singaporean and Thai parents. Fang added that the company runs tests each year to ensure that the cells remain viable. Cord blood is usually collected at birth and remains the best source of a perfect genetic match should there be a need for regenerating damaged cells.
Mr Fang said that the stored blood could also help the siblings since there was a higher chance of matching. ''You need a matching for stem cells because if there's no match, your system will reject it. So using stem cells derived from total strangers will be much more difficult," he pointed out, adding that his lab was accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks.
