The press review index from 09 to 13 May 2005

Cord blood banks

About euthanasia kits…

Spain: Government approves assisted reproduction bill

Technique for producing new egg cells

An umbilical cord blood bank opened in Quebec a few months ago. 255 prospective parents have already pledged to donate the umbilical cord blood of their future babies. Many children are awaiting this blood, which is particularly rich in stem cells.

Cord blood is used increasingly for transplants on children with leukaemia or immune deficiency disorders. It offers the same advantages as bone marrow transplants without the disadvantages (difficult harvesting which is very painful for donors). Massive benefits are expected to be reaped from umbilical cord blood cells in the years to come.

Following Brazil , Columbia and Mexico , Chile is the fourth country in Latin America to set up an umbilical cord stem cell blood bank.

Likewise, Portugal plans to open its first public placenta blood bank. Appeals will be made to pregnant women once the project has been finalised. There are around fifty of these banks in the world.

Consult Genethique Newsletter n°60

Cyberpress 28/04/2005 - La Nación 14/03/2005 - Diaro Siete 29/03/2005 - Le Quotidien du Médecin 13/05/05

About euthanasia kits…

Although euthanasia kits are currently available in Belgian pharmacies, major questions continue to be raised over the origin of this project.

In September 2004, a report published by the Belgian assessment committee for the law decriminalising euthanasia estimated the number of declared euthanasia cases within the first 15 months of the law's application to be 259, with 40% carried out in the home. Euthanasia supporters expressed their "disappointment" at these figures. They blamed doctors' lack of training and insufficient information of the population who, if better informed, would be more "in demand".

The ADMD (Association for the right to die with dignity) together with the Assessment Committee concluded that it was urgent and necessary to "inform" the public more widely and to train doctors to carry out euthanasia. On 15 November 2004 , this association therefore created a medical help and support "Forum" for doctors facing the difficult problems related to the end of life and requests for euthanasia. Its goal is to intervene where doctors have problems obtaining advice from a colleague as laid down by the law and to train doctors who can then provide guidance themselves. By the end of 2004, 69 doctors had joined the Forum. The ADMD distributed around 1,000 copies of a Euthanasia brochure to the medical community. These initiatives were backed by government funding.

Multipharma, a pharmaceutical wholesaler, was appointed the "dedicated" supplier of dispensaries to assist doctors in carrying out euthanasia more easily with "guaranteed results" through "an optimal solution".  

Spain : Government approves assisted reproduction bill

On Friday, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved a bill on assisted reproduction.

The previous law voted in under President Aznar authorised pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for couples carrying genetic diseases. The new law extends this practice to the creation of "designer babies", i.e. creating embryos through IVF and selecting one that is immunologically compatible with the sick sibling with a view to a future cell transplant. The National Assisted Reproduction Commission will be charged with assessing each case.

This bill facilitates human embryo stem cell research, which is already authorised but on a limited basis.

The bill must now be submitted to Parliament for approval.

La Croix (Valérie Demon) 10/05/05 - Le Quotidien du Médecin 13/05/05

A team led by Doctor Antonin Bukovsky have published their findings in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology*. The US researchers experimented with a new technique that could help women with fertility problems avoid having to use egg donors. Women are usually born with a high number of egg-producing follicles in their ovaries, which continues to decrease with age, but according to these scientists, new eggs can be developed from ovarian stem cells.

The scientists therefore took ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) cells from outside the ovaries of 5 women aged between 39 and 52 and grew them in a lab, exposing them to oestrogen. They succeeded in obtaining mature human eggs, capable of being fertilised.

This technique could enable women required to undergo cancer treatment, which risks causing infertility, to freeze some of these cells for later use in IVF treatment. It could also help women who risk early menopause to delay this by 10 to 12 years.

However, Jonathon Tilly, a US biologist, cautioned that the work was still at a very early stage. There is a long way between laboratory research and clinical application. 

* Oogenesis in cultures derived from adult human ovaries, Antonin Bukovsky, Marta Svetlikova and Michael R Caudle, Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 5/5/2005

Bionews 09/05/05 - medicms.be 06/05/05