Strategies to Make Cord Blood Banking More Meaningful

Umbilical cord blood (UCB), a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells, has been used successfully to treat a variety of genetic and hematologic disorders. The demonstrated success of CBT (Cord Blood Transplantation) and the impressive scientific progress in the last two decades led to the establishment of several cord blood banks world over. Most banks offer storage services of cord blood for one's own future use (autologous) or solicit cord blood donations from birthing mothers to help develop a pool that can help people in need. The later falls under the public banking category, whereas those that are kept for self or family's use, in the distant future, is called family or private banking. The most appropriate indication and justification for private banking however is for those families with a history of hematological disorder. We are witnessing increasing arguments and controversies in scientific meetings and the questioning for the scientific basis for family banking, in view of its low probability of use. Service providers are caught between the need to be in business, place facts to the potential customers and the pressure to remain relevant. They are therefore forced to look at innovative ways to address this challenge. The objective at hand is therefore to find ways of helping families in need by a change in approach and demonstrate the good intent. The present review is a critical analysis and discussion on the current family cord blood banking practices, review the trend, and suggest strategies to address current gaps in the public banking programs. The interest of the public at large was given more weightage at all times. An account of challenges one faces in adopting a hybrid model is being discussed in details in this review.