Cord Blood

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of the umbilical cords of babies born alive in each of the last 10 years were donated for the harvesting of stem cells. (304100)

The total amount of units of umbilical cord blood processed and stored in the NHS Cord Blood Bank (the Bank) for the last 10 years are:

	Units banked per annum
1997	862
1998	880
1999	894
2000	820
2001	562
2002	470
2003	597
2004	860
2005	1,076
2006	1,117
2007	1,342
2008	1,664
2009 year to date	1,712
Total	12,856

A report commissioned by the Department entitled ‘Cord Blood Banking in the UK: An International Comparison of Policy and Practice’ estimated that, in 2007, the Bank collection rate represented about 0.13 per cent, of annual total births in the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many stem cell donations from the NHS Cord Blood Bank were provided to patients in each year since 1996. (304106)

The number of cord blood units issued by the NHS Cord Blood Bank for transplant into patients each year since 1998 are:

	Issued
1998	3
1999	14
2000	18
2001	10
2002	10
2003	10
2004	19
2005	27
2006	34
2007	44
2008	47
2009 (to date)	43
Total	279

Volume 502: debated on Wednesday 9 December 2009