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Canada now has a national donor cord blood banking program after years of being the sole member of the G8 without one. The program was officially launched at The Ottawa Hospital in the nation’s capital, and there are plans to expand to three other hospitals across the country by mid-2014.
Canadian Blood Services was the organization primarily behind the launch of the donor cord blood banking program. CBS argued that cord blood donations would provide options for therapy to Canada’s multi-cultural population as bone marrow samples or other methods of therapy are very restrictive for families of visible minorities.
But due to the current structure of the program, families are very limited if they wish to donate their baby’s cord blood. Cord blood samples must be collected in the Ottawa region in order to be stored at the national donor banking facility at The Ottawa Hospital. The expansion of the program will also restrict donations as being collected from families who live near three other locations – one in Brampton Ontario, another in Edmonton, and the final in Vancouver.
As the program is still in its infancy stages, donor cord blood banking will still require years to become fully implemented across Canada. But families can still provide potential therapy for their own kin by partnering with family cord blood banking programs. These family-focused options store cord blood stem cells for the use of the child they were derived from if ever the need should arise.
Family cord blood banking helps Canadians take measures to protect their own children. Over time as the donor banking program does become a national plan, Canadians can improve the chances of providing therapy for as many citizens as required.