mr president clearly there is a general appreciation of the progress that has been made in the application of stem cells for therapeutic purposes
we agree that this needs to be encouraged
the issues as raised by the honourable members are firstly on information and secondly on storage
as far as information is concerned it is important as we all agree to provide accurate and objective information to parents and to the general public about the advantages and limitations of the use of stem cells including cord blood stem cells
providing such information is the competence of the member states which sometimes vary in opinion and policy regarding the advantages and limitations as well as the uses of stem cells
many member states already have in place information campaigns and other information activities
the commission encourages member states to take such actions
as to storage we know that private firms already offer parents the service of storing cord blood cells
however several member states have established public cord blood banks based on altruistic and voluntary cord blood donation
eu law on tissues and cells regulates all tissue establishments whether public or private
it specifies principles of voluntary and unpaid donation anonymity altruism of the donor and solidarity between donor and recipient
in two thousand and four the european group on ethics recommended public storage of cord blood banks to ensure solidarity access to all patients in need
