By Judith Tan, The Straits Times, 15 Mar 2012
The Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB) has facilitated its 100th unrelated cord blood transplant since it opened in 2005.
This is a significant milestone for the seven-year-old bank. It is the first and only of such banks here.
The transplant was carried out on an adult patient suffering from Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a blood disorder which is caused by a lack of red blood cells.
Since its first transplant five years ago for a toddler with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency or Bubble Boy Disease, the SCBB has facilitated unrelated blood stem cell transplants for 45 children and 55 adults here and overseas.
Cord blood is a rich source of self renewing blood stem cells that can give rise to different mature blood cell types.
The Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB) has facilitated its 100th unrelated cord blood transplant since it opened in 2005.
This is a significant milestone for the seven-year-old bank. It is the first and only of such banks here.
The transplant was carried out on an adult patient suffering from Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a blood disorder which is caused by a lack of red blood cells.
Since its first transplant five years ago for a toddler with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency or Bubble Boy Disease, the SCBB has facilitated unrelated blood stem cell transplants for 45 children and 55 adults here and overseas.
Cord blood is a rich source of self renewing blood stem cells that can give rise to different mature blood cell types.
Cord blood bank needs $6 million lifeline
CEO of not-for-profit bank fears funds will dry up as donors move on to new causes
By Judith Tan, The Straits Times, 16 Mar 2012
SINGAPORE'S public cord blood bank will need $6 million more to keep it going in the next five to six years.
The seven-year-old Singapore Cord Blood Bank is not government-funded and not-for-profit, in that it does not charge a fee for collecting and storing its donated cord blood units. So it raises this money itself.
Donations from philanthropists and organisations such as the Khoo, Lee, Shaw and SingHealth foundations have seen it through thus far, but its chief executive Steven Sobak fears that these sources of funds will dry up.
'Like everyone, we worry about the economic downturn, but I'm most concerned that these philanthropic organisations think we're an old cause that can be self-sustaining, so they move on to a new one,' he said.
He was speaking to The Straits Times on the sidelines of a media conference to announce the blood bank's 100th cord blood transplant done on a recipient who is unrelated to the cord blood donor.
The bank uses its funds to process and store its 8,000 units of blood extracted from the umbilical cords donated by women who have given birth.
It aims to have 10,000 units by early 2015 at the latest.
Cord blood is rich in stem cells, which can mature into red or white blood cells or platelets. These can be used to replace diseased cells in patients with blood cancers or other blood, genetic and metabolic disorders.
The bank's 100th unrelated recipient of cord blood, for example, is an adult with a blood disorder caused by a lack of red blood cells. If it was left untreated, the patient would likely have faced bone marrow failure.
The families of women who donate their cord blood to the bank have no claim on the blood, which is available to anyone in need.
A patient who needs to draw down on the cord blood bank to treat an illness has to bear the costs of services, tests and the retrieving of the blood.
Each retrieval of the cord blood costs up to $26,000; testing of each unit for a tissue match costs $2,000.
Transplants can cost $80,000 to $160,000, though Singaporeans are eligible for a government subsidy amounting to half the cost.
When Teng Hong Yi, now 12, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2009, none of his siblings was of a compatible marrow type.
His mother Regina Soong, 33, said the family was relieved and grateful when 'a fully matched cord' was found at the cord blood bank.
The first cord blood transplant was five years ago. Since then, the bank, coupled with its joining a global network of cord blood banks, has facilitated unrelated blood stem cell transplants for 45 children and 55 adults here and abroad.
CEO of not-for-profit bank fears funds will dry up as donors move on to new causes
By Judith Tan, The Straits Times, 16 Mar 2012
SINGAPORE'S public cord blood bank will need $6 million more to keep it going in the next five to six years.
The seven-year-old Singapore Cord Blood Bank is not government-funded and not-for-profit, in that it does not charge a fee for collecting and storing its donated cord blood units. So it raises this money itself.
Donations from philanthropists and organisations such as the Khoo, Lee, Shaw and SingHealth foundations have seen it through thus far, but its chief executive Steven Sobak fears that these sources of funds will dry up.
'Like everyone, we worry about the economic downturn, but I'm most concerned that these philanthropic organisations think we're an old cause that can be self-sustaining, so they move on to a new one,' he said.
He was speaking to The Straits Times on the sidelines of a media conference to announce the blood bank's 100th cord blood transplant done on a recipient who is unrelated to the cord blood donor.
The bank uses its funds to process and store its 8,000 units of blood extracted from the umbilical cords donated by women who have given birth.
It aims to have 10,000 units by early 2015 at the latest.
Cord blood is rich in stem cells, which can mature into red or white blood cells or platelets. These can be used to replace diseased cells in patients with blood cancers or other blood, genetic and metabolic disorders.
The bank's 100th unrelated recipient of cord blood, for example, is an adult with a blood disorder caused by a lack of red blood cells. If it was left untreated, the patient would likely have faced bone marrow failure.
The families of women who donate their cord blood to the bank have no claim on the blood, which is available to anyone in need.
A patient who needs to draw down on the cord blood bank to treat an illness has to bear the costs of services, tests and the retrieving of the blood.
Each retrieval of the cord blood costs up to $26,000; testing of each unit for a tissue match costs $2,000.
Transplants can cost $80,000 to $160,000, though Singaporeans are eligible for a government subsidy amounting to half the cost.
When Teng Hong Yi, now 12, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2009, none of his siblings was of a compatible marrow type.
His mother Regina Soong, 33, said the family was relieved and grateful when 'a fully matched cord' was found at the cord blood bank.
The first cord blood transplant was five years ago. Since then, the bank, coupled with its joining a global network of cord blood banks, has facilitated unrelated blood stem cell transplants for 45 children and 55 adults here and abroad.
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