There is no need to go to Singapore to store your baby’s cord blood - which is rich in stem cells because Indonesia will have its own “Cord Blood Storage” put together by CordLife Singapore in collaboration with PT Kalbe Farma. Stem cells that may be used for therapies of cancer, heart diseases, diabetes up to bone damage is not only useful for the owner of the cord blood but also his close relatives.
The cost is considered economical. The fee for cord blood extraction is 8 Million IDR. Storage fee is 1.2 Million IDR per year. Compare the fees with storing the cord blood in Singapore which could reach up to S$ 5.000 to S$ 10.000.
The construction plan for Cord Blood Storage in Indonesia is warmly welcomed by the Health Minister, Siti Fadillah Supardi. In the press conference held by PT Kalbe Farma, in Jakarta, Saturday (14/10), the Health Minister said with the increasing number of patients suffering from degenerative diseases and blood disorders, stem cell transplantation technology is inevitable.
“The realm of health education is developing and Indonesia cannot always be left behind. All these while, mothers who had just given birth have let their babies’ cord blood be taken away. They only know about the old myths of taking the piece of umbilical cord at home,” she said.
Dr Sunny Tan Chiok Ling from CordLife Singapore explained; during pregnancy, the umbilical cord is the only life connection between the mother and the baby. If all these times, umbilical cords are discarded and buried, in 1963, the medical world found that stem cells from this cord blood and umbilical cord may be used by the bay as well as his family to cure various diseases.
“This is because the blood in the umbilical cord contains millions of stem cells which can initiate the formation of blood type similar with stem cells found in the bone marrow. The stem cells in the bone marrow and cord blood have been successfully harnessed to cure many life threatening blood disorders,” he said.
The first stem cell transplantation was done in France in 1988 for a Fanconi anemia sufferer. At present there are already more than 3.000 stem cell transplantations and more than 72 diseases cured by it. Most of them are acute illnesses such as leukemia, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, aplastic anemia, and autoimmune diseases.
In the future, researchers believe that stem cell may be used to repair body organs such as heart and pancreas (diabetes), and help to treat diseases namely systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis, stroke, alzheimer, and parkinson.
The interest of Indonesia’s community to store their children’s umbilical cord in a cord blood storage seems to increase. According to Yuliana Indriati from the Kalbe Farma Stem Cells Development Division, at the moment there are about 100 people in Indonesia who stored umbilical cords in CordLife Singapore. One of them is from the baby of Maya Rumantir.
“I see the community’s enthusiasm in Indonesia to store cord blood is pretty big. Seen from the requests of some patients in a number of hospitals in Jakarta. But, because the stem cord storage facilities in Indonesia is still under development stage, the storage is done in Singapore. The cost is more expensive, which is 12 Million IDR for extraction,” said Indriati.
The request for cord blood extraction procedure is done by the patient during pregnancy. At the time of delivery, the cord blood is left in the placenta, which is clamped and cut. Using a safe technique, the doctor will put the cord blood into a blood bag.
The process is safe and painless for both the mother and the baby.
“The blood bag method is a more sterile process and storage compared to other methods. Stem cells will be stored in liquid nitrogen container at – 196 degree Celsius. It enables the cells to be preserved safely. Stem cells may be used in the future when needed,” she said.
Questioned about the storage time limit, Indri said, it is unlimited, it depends on the client’s wish. Even though the stem cell is not used on the related child, it may be used for his family. “When used on close relatives, the rejection factor is very small because it has similar genetic characteristics,” she said. (Tri Wahyuni)
