The California umbilical cord blood program: saving lives through cells
Courtesy of Anthony PortantinoAnthony Portantino
In 2002, our daughter Bella was born. Although we made good on our promise to donate Bella’s cord blood, we quickly discovered that in California and across the United States, the public cord blood donation process is grossly inadequate.
As a result, countless opportunities to cure blood-related diseases are lost. In California alone, the stem-cell rich blood from more than 500,000 births is discarded every year. Most cord blood is gathered through private collection. Unfortunately, this method is prohibitively expensive and used by only 1 percent of Californians.
Since these cells offer the potential to cure 70 blood-related diseases, including sickle cell anemia and leukemia, I was upset that they continued to be discarded.
After the difficulties we faced in collecting Bella’s cord blood, I made a second promise to myself: If I were ever in a position to help collect and store cord blood for public use, I would. In November 2006, I was given that opportunity when I was elected to the California State Assembly. Minutes after being sworn in, I introduced my first piece of legislation: Assembly Bill 34. This legislation proposed the California Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program, requiring the California Department of Public Health to establish a public cord blood collection program.
AB 34 places a special emphasis on meeting the health-care needs of communities of color, since minorities are disproportionately impacted by blood-related diseases and are far less likely to find bone marrow matches than non-minorities. Given California’s considerable ethnic and racial diversity, the state seemed like the perfect place to launch such a program.
AB 34 received overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses of the legislature and was signed into law in October 2007.
This year, I am striving to secure federal, state and private dollars for the complete implementation of this program. My office is now working with U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff to secure federal funding, as well as other interested parties and foundations to secure private financing.
Not only are the start-up costs for this program fairly minimal, but other savings can be realized: A tremendous amount of money may be saved by eliminating the need for a lifetime of treatment costs.
A small and early investment to establish the California Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program will save precious and limited health-care dollars, while offering people like Jordy, an aspiring filmmaker, the opportunity to live healthy, productive lives. Working with researchers, doctors and other medical professionals from City of Hope and other institutions throughout California, I know that we can bring that same life-changing opportunity to many others.