NEW DELHI: With growing evidence that Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant (UCBT) is one of the major treatment options for various genetic and blood-related diseases, the concept of cord blood pool banking is gradually developing in India.
Doctors say over 95% of blood-related disorders can be treated using umbilical cord blood (UCB) from a donor. Keeping this in mind, a cord blood bank has introduced the first Family Umbilical Cord Blood Pool Banking concept in the country.
MyCord, a vertical of CelluGen, a government-licensed cord blood bank, advocates that each UCB unit be privately banked and stored as part of a pool, thereby providing an easy access to patients to the best-matched cord blood unit.
Government bodies have regularly been updating their recommendations on umbilical cord blood banking.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines of 2007 and 2012 state, “Use of stored umbilical cord blood for self-use is practically nil.”
Its 2017 guideline says, “So far there is no scientific basis for preservation of cord blood for future self-use and this practice, therefore, raises ethical and social concerns.”
Even doctors advise parents looking for umbilical cord blood banking to consider pool banking, which allows access to others’ cord blood units when needed.