Brazil Expands Umbilical Cord Blood Banks. Country Depends 90% on Imports.

By the beginning of next year, Brazil’s public system of umbilical cord blood banks (Brasilcord) will be expanded by the start-up of blood banks in Ribeirão Preto and Campinas, both in the interior of the state of São Paulo.

The system is currently formed by units in the National Cancer Institute (Inca), regarded as the hub of the system, and the Albert Einstein Hospital, in the same state.

This information was furnished by the head of the Inca Bone Marrow Transplant Center, Luiz Fernando Bouzas. He believes that the expansion of public umbilical cord blood banks in Brazil can reduce the country’s dependency upon imports of this material. According to Bouzas, this dependency currently amounts to 90%.

"Umbilical cord blood is being used more and more as a source of stem cells for bone marrow transplants," he said.

According to Bouzas, when a person doesn’t have a donor in the family, he or she must resort to looking for a donor on the list of voluntary donors, who are adults capable of donating this material, or in the umbilical cord blood banks. More than half of the blood used in Brazil for transplants when there is no family donor is umbilical cord blood.

The cost nowadays of an imported stem cell unit is around US$ 30,000, equivalent to 70,000 reais. Whereas in Brazil, the cost of freezing a unit is US$ 1,500 – approximately 3,500 reais. "In other words, there is a significant difference between seeking it abroad and storing it here."

Bouzas pointed out that since September, 2004, 10% of the umbilical cord blood used in transplants in Brazil has come from the Inca blood bank. "This is an important fact. If the other blood banks begin operations, we are certain that Brazil will save money in the search for foreign sources and will acquire agility in finding donors within the country itself."

Besides the two blood banks in the state of São Paulo, the Ministry of Health is analyzing projects for umbilical cord blood banks in the Clinical Hospitals of the University of Porto Alegre and the Federal University of Paraná and the blood centers of Pará, Pernambuco, and Minas Gerais. "They are projects under consideration for earmarking resources and incorporating into the system," Bouzas explained.

According to the Inca specialist, the average cost of creating an umbilical cord blood bank, from the planning stage (construction and equipment) to full operation, comes to US$ 666,000 (1.5 million reais).

Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Only Iron and Soybean Bring More Foreign Money to Brazil than Tourism

Tourism was Brazil’s third largest source of foreign currency during the first seven months ...

Chevron’s Oil Spill in Brazil Leads Experts to Ask for Urgent New Survey in the Area

Brazilian specialists have become seriously worried about more oil spills off the coast of ...

Brazil Losing War Against Inflation. Consumer Price Index Up over 7%

Brazil’s government data show that annual inflation in the country hit a six-year high ...

2005: It’s Brazil Year in France

Four hundred Brazilian cultural events will be presented during the Year of Brazil in ...

Arab League Wishes to Reopen Its Offices in Brazil

The reopening of the representation office for the League of Arab States in Brazil ...

Cachaça, a typical Brazilian liquor

“Cachaça” Is Ours, Says Brazil, No Other Country Can Produce It

By the end of this month, Brazil expects to have a list with the ...

A Touch of Brazilian Baroque at a Jewelry Near You

Brazilian semiprecious stones, 950 silver, enamelled ceramics, nickel covered brass, aged silver and copper ...

10,000 Brazilian Troops on War Games to Defend Brazil’s Oil and Nukes

Thousands of Brazilian military men have been very active. Brazil is holding military exercises ...

For Minister Brazil’s 5.2% GDP Shows a Healthy Economy

Brazil’s Minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci, considered the 5.2% growth in the GDP (Gross ...

Brazil’s Offer to Mediate in Venezuela-Colombia Conflict Vetoed by Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rejected on Friday a Brazilian proposal for a joint border ...