Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to support the motion by the member for Petrie. I must say that when the member for Petrie first spoke to me about this I thought it was a great opportunity. She should really be commended for bringing it to this place for us to debate. The research and use of organ and blood donations across Australia has for decades been the difference between life and death. I have been registered as an organ donor for many years. In my inaugural speech I spoke about the death of my brother due to a genetic disorder. I think it is very important that we have the option for, in particular, organ and tissue transplants that can help save lives. As the previous speaker mentioned, the federal government, our government, should be congratulated on the work that we have done on a national organ transplant authority.

One form of donation that often goes unrecognised is cord blood, which over the years has increasingly been used as an alternative to bone marrow treatment, with over 90 per cent of patients able to find compatible cord blood for transplant. The most appropriate source of stem cells is from another person, whether that person be a family member or an anonymous stem cell donor. The chance of finding a match within your family is around 30 per cent, yet the chance of finding a more suitable unrelated donor is even higher at 80 per cent. Given its success in treating patients with dire illnesses, it is now more than ever the preferred option of treatment.

Cord blood is the blood from the umbilical cord and the placenta after the delivery of a baby, which research shows is a rich source of blood-forming stem cells. Cord blood may be collected by accredited staff using one of two methods. While the placenta is still in the womb, immediately after the delivery and the cutting of the umbilical cord, the midwife, doctor or collector will puncture the umbilical cord vein and drain the blood from the placenta into a bag. This will take several minutes. When the placenta is expelled, more blood may be collected from the veins in the placenta. The other option is after the placenta is out of the womb. The cord blood collection takes place after the placenta is expelled, away from the delivery room.

This blood is pivotal to birth, as it provides a baby with nutrients when it is in its mother’s womb, but research also shows that it can assist with the treatment of life-threatening illnesses, including acute and chronic leukaemia, lymphoma, immune deficiency, some haematological malignancy, blood diseases, metabolic storage diseases and other tumours. In 2005, stem cells similar to embryonic stem cells were isolated from cord blood. The stem cells, while not possessing the same potency as embryonic stem cells, have been shown to be convertible into non-blood cells, such as liver cells. Research is being undertaken into the therapeutic use of these cord blood derived stem cells for diseases such as cystic fibrosis. Other trials are being undertaken into the use of the cells in repairing organ tissue and in the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s and cardiovascular diseases.

The Sydney Cord Blood Bank describes cord blood stem cells as the building blocks of the blood cells that are often found in bone marrow, which have the capacity to continually produce blood cells found in the circulating blood—white cells and red blood cells, for example. Cord blood can be obtained from the umbilical cord without harming the baby, the mother or normal delivery procedures. It ensures that these cells are immediately available if ever needed as the blood can be frozen and kept for around 20 years without affecting the potency of the stem cells. If you do not choose to store your baby’s cord blood it will normally be discarded as medical waste after the birth. That is frightening to think about. If we have opportunities to help people live, to have a better quality of life, we should clearly seize those opportunities to help keep people who are sick or have chronic illnesses to have a better quality of life and perhaps to prolong their lifespan.

In Australia there are two types of cord blood banks which cater for these options—government and community funded public banks which store donated cord blood for public access, and private and not-for-profit banks which store children’s cord blood for personal use. AusCord, which is the national cord blood collection and banking network, collects blood from participating hospitals in order to secure a sufficient supply for the entire Australian population. The three public cord blood banks in Australia licensed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration are the Sydney Children’s Hospital of New South Wales, the Royal Children’s Hospital in Victoria and the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Queensland.

I am very pleased that in the 2010-11 budget the federal Labor government announced $18.1 million in funding over four years for AusCord. I am very proud to say that that is an increase on previous budgets and is aimed to bring the service in line with funding for other blood products. Hospitals around the country contribute to AusCord. However, due to the lack of specialist staff and appropriate facilities, donations from women in Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia are more often than not inaccessible. I would like to congratulate AusCord on its fantastic efforts in research and its commitment to blood collection and donation.

The Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry 2010 annual report states that the cord blood banks have collected more than 20,000 cord blood donations, which are searchable throughout its registry. In 2008, 2,218 cord blood donations were banked in the same year. Thirty-seven patients received cord blood donations from within Australia and a further 24 from overseas. To go back to what I was saying before, I think it is important that we do whatever we can, wherever we can, to help better the lives of Australians right across the country. In regional areas this is a problem. We need to be looking at where we can collect more of these samples to build up a greater bank and storage for use in the future. As I said earlier, the member for Petrie should be congratulated on bringing this forward. I have a very keen interest in research into genetic medical disorders through my family connection. The opportunity to help save lives is something that we should never underestimate. I think we should do all that we can within our power to help make lives better for Australians in the future. I commend this motion.

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