City gets its cord blood bank

HYDERABAD: AP got its first cord blood bank facility with the launch of Cord Care near Mahindra Hills here. With this, umbilical cord blood repository, parents can bank their newborn baby’s cord blood, which will be a potential source for treating a number of ailments, including cancer, thalassemia, blood and metabolic disorders.
Cord blood is the blood that remains in the new born baby’s umbilical cord after it is cut.Doctors have identified that cord blood, like bone marrow, is a rich source of stem cells, which can be used in medical treatment.
Cord Care is a division of PathCare Labs, which is a diagnostic service provider. Addressing a media conference here on Thursday, PathCare Labs’ officials said that the collection, processing and preservation of cord blood is done at a fee of Rs 75,000 and the samples are stored in cryogenic vaults for a period of 21 years only. “We have a facility to store up to one lakh samples. By 2011, the company will expand its operations to preserve 10 lakh samples by setting up a facility at Cherial, Kesara mandal, at a cost of two million dollars,” said Dr G V Prasad, MD of PathCare.
The company officials claim to have over 50 bookings from Kolkata, Delhi, Gurgaon and Chennai, till date. Until now, those from the state who wanted to preserve cord blood would contact collection centres which would airlift the blood units. But now, Hyderabad has its own cord blood bank. The bank will preserve cord blood samples beginning from Jan 29. As of now, there are four companies in this five-year-old technique with most of them having an overseas parent company.
In India, the company officials claim that the industry put together has banked about 25,000 cord blood units over the last three years.
Officials said that lack of awareness and highly technical nature of the process were the reasons for a small customer base in the country. However, they were hopeful of a tremendous potential that could be tapped by initiating an awareness campaign.