Safekeep a piece of you now, for use in future
The jury is still out on whether stem cell banking should be done by private players. The raging debate, however, is not deterring city residents from banking their children's stem cells.
The daughter of a senior Punjab official and son of a bottling giant, for instance, are among those who have given their children this unusual 'gift'.
Young professionals in their 20s, too, have fallen hook, line and sinker for stem cell banking.
When a doctor suggested Rajit Kakkar to opt for cord cell banking before the delivery of his second child, the owner of Silver City, Mohali agreed immediately. His son Aryaman (7) was a leukemia patient. "The doctors suggested that stem cells from the umbilical cord would help in the future treatment if required," said Kakkar.
His five-month-old daughter Rishaaya is healthy, but Kakkar is assured that in case of any future problems, Rishaaya or Aryaman can fall back on the stored stem cells.
Kakkar is one of the 180 clients in the tricity to have taken advantage of the stem cell banking collection facility at Panchkula.
While the facility set up by LifeCell - a stem cell bank situated in Chennai - is doing well, new entrant Reliance Life Sciences, that has a stem cell bank in Mumbai, is all set to give it a stiff competition.
Seven of the 180 clients of LifeCell have some history of a disease or disorder where stem cells provide hope of cure. Dr Sandeep Nayyar from Ranbaxy was one of the first people to enroll for stem cell banking when the facility was started in August, 2006.
"We have a family history of a particular disease and I wanted to be tension-free my daughter's future. I had read a lot about the advances in stem cell therapy and feel it is worth all the money," Dr Nayyar said.
LifeCell has tied up with all major clinics in the tricity and holds awareness sessions for patients. A couple is given a collection kit after enrollment. "They can either ask their doctor to collect the blood sample or call us to do it for them," said Rahul Talwar, Manager of the Panchkula centre.
"Once the blood sample is collected, we send it to the stem cell bank in Chennai within 48 hours," Talwar said.
A senior official of the Sagar Ratna chain of restaurants feels it to be a long-term insurance plan for his son "I think it is same as insurance so that you have something to fall back on at the time of need,"he said. "This is also an investment on a therapy that has a lot of scope."
