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19 March 2024

Private cord blood banks illegal in UAE

Published
By Staff

Private companies in the UAE cannot store umbilical cord blood, according to Amin Al Amiri, Executive Director for Medical Practices and Licensing at the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Health has shut down some firms functioning without a licence. It is in the process of contacting the sponsors of others that store cord blood, reported 'Al Bayan' newspaper. Most of these firms operate out of free zones and some of them even store cord blood outside the UAE.

Companies need to provide guarantees by the respective governments including documents attested and approved by the UAE Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Ministry of Health, said  Al Amiri.

It is the joint decision by both the GCC Council of Ministers of Health and the Council of Arab Ministers of Health to prevent private companies from storing cord blood or opening blood banks. This is to avoid the risk of infections.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health supports and invites citizens and residents to store blood at the Centre of Cord Blood and Research in Al Wasl Hospital, he said.

"The next five years will see a radical shift in the field of stem cell therapy and cord blood usage," he said and added that there have been also cases where people paid huge sums of money to have cord blood stored for 15 years outside the UAE.