Actual figures were released earlier last month by the National Marrow Donor Program “Be-The-Match-Registry” and it reveals acute shortage of donations from minorities. More than sixty percent of donated cord blood came from Caucasians and that’s less than half of 1% of cord blood units from Native Americans.
Only 7% of cord blood units belong to Black and Asian Americans. Those Hispanics also donate but its percentage is less than twenty percent. The Arizona Republic interviewed medical professionals about this issue and they just assumed one of the reasons why minority donations are scarce because they can’t afford the cost of private banking, which include monthly fee and annual storage fee.
This is the main reason why Arizona Biomedical Research Commission extended their hands to cover all those necessary expenses needed in cord blood donation. The state’s Federal Heath Resources Service Administration added funding for the said project amounting to $6.2 million for three to five years. The project is expected to collect 5,000 cord blood units.
This national and lifesaving project as funded by state lottery money just began this summer. In Phoenix Baptist alone the staffs collected roughly 25 units and its first unit came from a Hispanic mom. All units will be stored in Colorado National Bank.
The other two participating hospitals are St. Joseph’s Hospital and Maricopa Medical Center.