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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 6 Hansard (18 June) . . Page.. 2089 ..

MR SMYTH

I believe the ACT must investigate the possibility of the national capital having its own cord blood collection and storage facility-not just because of our population. As a regional centre we could be the collection point, servicing the region from Wagga to the coast and from Young down to the Snowy. That would more than double the number of pregnant women who would be able to donate this cord blood.

In the year 2000 more than 4,000 babies were born in the ACT, so imagine the amount of cord blood that could be collected, stored and used from each birth in the territory, pending a mother's consent. The amount of blood that could be collected in the ACT would go a long way towards building a stock of cord blood in Australia.

Nationally, in the year 2000 almost 250,000 births occurred. But across Australia collection sites are limited: you have to give birth at a major hospital in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to be able to donate the blood. That is restrictive and many families want to donate cord blood. My office heard from a Canberra mother who read about donating umbilical cord blood in a birthing magazine. It was her experience, relayed to my office, that prompted this motion today.

This mother was very excited at the thought that the birth of her child, through the umbilical cord blood, might be able to save someone's life. She was extremely disappointed to discover that she could not donate the cord blood at the Canberra Hospital or, indeed, in the region. There are members of the community ready and willing to give this blood, and in one regard it is much like the organ donation system that we have in place. If people want to donate, we should encourage them and provide opportunities for them to assist society, not stand in their way. That is why we should be checking out the options here for Canberra.

Over 600 children are diagnosed with cancer each year in Australia, and cord blood is a medical breakthrough in giving each and every one of them a better chance at life. Around 50 children every year are diagnosed with cancer and cannot find a suitable donor for bone marrow transplant. This new blood banking system increases their chances of survival.

There is also a need to increase awareness about this medical breakthrough. I have to admit that, before researching this subject after hearing of the disappointment of that Canberra mother who dearly wanted to donate umbilical cord blood, I knew very little about it myself. It is more common for children to be treated with cord blood, but it may be further extended to adults in the future, as the early results for use on adults is extremely encouraging. The most recent figures I could find indicate that about 40 adults across the globe have received cord blood transfusions.

The territory is a major hospital provider for the south-east region. Canberra should also be in the line for a cord blood donating facility. If we are to win the battle against diseases like cancer, we need to be proactive. We need to implement the sort of initiative that requires these facilities. Granted: the establishment of a cord blood bank in Canberra would not be cheap. We would need to call on the Commonwealth to assist, but they have set up such a program to offer that assistance.

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