Petition to Increase Awareness and Availability of Umbilical Cord Donation

As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:

The Government is committed to improving UK stem cell services and has allocated a total of £12million to help implement the recommendations of the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum report. To date, this funding has resulted in an increase in the number of banked clinical grade cord blood units, as well as an aligned UK stem cell register and an increase in adult stem cell donors recruited to the register.

The Government is working towards a cord blood bank of 50,000 units, but this can only be achieved through a strategic approach, and one that is affordable. As part of this work, both NHS and certain Anthony Nolan centres are being funded to operate a 24/7 service.

While an increased cord blood bank size will result in better patient outcomes, the relative value of each added unit diminishes as the inventory expands. On this basis, balancing service quality with cost effectiveness, a bank of 50,000 units was determined as optimal by the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum.

The cord blood samples stored in the UK’s public cord blood banks are available to patients across the country, and there is no scientific or financial case for the routine collection of cord blood.

The Government knows that black, Asian and minority ethnic populations are less likely to find a matched adult stem cell donor. To try to address this, cord blood collection centres have been sited at hospitals in areas of highest ethnic diversity.

This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold.