DONATING CORD BLOOD FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES

Cord blood can be donated for the needs of public healthcare to the so-called public cord blood bank, where it is stored and entered in a list (registry) of stored haematopoietic stem cells. The stored cord blood is then available for the treatment of unrelated patients in Slovenia and abroad through the transplant of haematopoietic stem cells. This is called allogeneic transplant. The storage of cord blood at a public bank is voluntary and free of charge.

In light of its size and requirements, Slovenia needs around 2,000 cord blood units. Presently, the public umbilical cord blood bank (named ESPOK) at the Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia stores around 1,000 units. The public bank can only store samples of top quality that have a high content of stem cells, while others must be discarded. The share of suitable samples in Slovenia is similar to that of any institution worldwide and amounts to approximately 20%.