Over a quarter of parents are still not being informed about the life-saving potential of storing or donating umbilical cord blood stem cells
Public awareness of the value of stem cell research and an appreciation of its potential to improve quality of life and save lives has increased significantly over the past six years but further progress is being held back by lack of sufficient education among healthcare professionals who are not adequately informing parents of the opportunity to store their stem cells. This is contributing to the UK’s very low stem cell banking ranking compared to the majority of other European countries.
These are the main conclusions of research launched today, which surveyed 1,000 UK parents of children under 10, to mark National Stem Cell Awareness Day (8th October 2014). The report was commissioned by London-based Precious Cells Group, the pioneering, international provider of biobanking and stem cell technology services.
Research Highlights
• Significant majority (64%) said they were familiar with stem cell research, compared with 22% in 2008 when a similar study was undertaken for the MRC and BBSRC*
• London had the highest awareness (82%), the East of England was next (69%) with respondents in the North East with the least awareness (42%) of stem cells’ benefits
• Over two-thirds (66%) think that stem cell research can improve the quality of life of future generations with inherited diseases – Yorkshire respondents were the most optimistic (76%)
• Clear belief amongst parents in the value of stem cells in regenerative medicine; only 2% said that they would never want their child’s stem cells to be used for that purpose
• Growing rise in respondents (but still only 20 %) who indicated that they have already stored stem cells in a biobank as real-life insurance against the future possibility of life-altering illnesses
• About 30% of all parents with children born in the last decade said that they had never been spoken to by a healthcare professional about stem cell storage
• A quarter (25%) of those surveyed were frustrated that they had not asked for their umbilical cord blood stem cells to be stored
*(Medical Research Council and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council)
Despite improving public awareness and belief in the therapeutic potential of stem cells, the Government has to date only achieved 25% of its target of banking at least 50,000 high quality umbilical cord blood units (a common and safe source of stem cells) by 2016.
The research from Precious Cells Group strongly suggests that this could be due to a lack of training among healthcare professionals, with 28% of all parents with children born in the last decade saying that they had never been spoken to by a healthcare professional about stem cell storage, and 25% frustrated that they had not asked for their umbilical cord blood stem cells to be stored. Instead, most of this potentially life-saving material will have been destroyed as biological waste.
It is estimated that 15,000 patients are in need of a stem cell transplant every year, but up to 40% cannot currently be matched with the right tissue type because the Government’s public stem cell bank does not hold sufficient cord blood units. Matching for ethnic minorities and people of mixed race background is even more difficult, creating an imbalance of access.
Precious Cells Miracle, the charitable arm of Precious Cells Group, is partnering with NHS Trusts to collect, process and store stem cells extracted from umbilical cord blood and tissue in an initiative which has been established to help address the UK’s insufficient public investment in the cord blood stem cell industry. The first deal under this framework was announced with Croydon Health Services NHS Trust last month.
Between 2004 and 2005 the Government committed £25 million to stem cell research and therapy but lack of funding since has led to the UK lagging behind other European counties in terms of research and population/cord blood unit banks. It lags behind Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Spain and Belgium, for instance, has a population/cord blood unit ratio close to ten times better than the UK when it comes to blood cord stocks to population. (Table 1).
Dr Hussein K Salem, Founder and CEO of Precious Cells Group, commented:
“The independent research clearly indicates that great progress has been made in increasing the public’s awareness of the potential of stem cells to improve quality of life, treat degenerative and later life diseases and save lives. However, despite some excellent progress in educating healthcare professionals of the benefits of stem cells it’s clear from the research findings that a significant number of parents are unhappy and frustrated that they were not given the opportunity to bank their stem cells and more needs to be done to ensure that parents are fully informed of their options. This is a key challenge for Government, healthcare professional and stem cell banking and therapy companies such as ourselves and we are already working closely with NHS Trusts and healthcare professionals to help ensure that parents are as fully informed as possible.”
For further information please contact:
Morgan Rossiter:
Richard Morgan Evans, Pippa Wiltshire, Tania Wild, Imogen Gardam
0203 195 3240
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