Research

Develop a mechanism to make nonclinical units available for research use (Recommendation 3.1).

Umbilical Cord Blood Banks and Banking

Establish a cord blood accrediting organization (Recommendation 4.1).

Establish uniform standards for cord blood collection (Recommendation 4.2).

Establish uniform quality assurance systems (Recommendation 4.3).

Establish FDA Licensure of Cord Blood Units (Recommendation 4.4).

Quality standards should apply to both public and private banks (Recommendation 4.5).

Ethical and Legal Issues

Cord blood centers need policies regarding who must provide consent (Recommendation 5.1).

Informed consent should be obtained prior to labor and delivery (Recommendation 5.2).

Donors Must Be Provided with Clear Information about their Options (Recommendation 5.3).

Promote the security of medical information (Recommendation 5.4).

Cord blood donors must understand the limitation of their rights (Recommendation 5.5).

Inventory of a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Program

Establish a national inventory policy (Recommendation 6.1).

Continue to conduct outcomes research (Recommendation 6.2).

Expand the current inventory (Recommendation 6.3).

Recommended Structure of a National Program

Establish a National Cord Blood Policy Board (Recommendation 7.1).

Establish a National Cord Blood Coordinating Center (Recommendation 7.2).

Develop an outcomes database for all sources of hematopoietic progenitor cells (Recommendation 7.3).

Fund banks to promote inventory growth (Recommendation 7.4).

Financially support infrastructure development (Recommendation 7.5).

Establish criteria for data sharing (Recommendation 7.6).