As mothers, you will do anything for your child. Even way before they are brought into this world, your instincts kick in and you tirelessly worry about your baby. You want to learn everything there is to learn and more importantly, you want to protect them from anything and everything that can harm them be it the common cold or a fever; and if you had your way, you would gladly get sick for your child. And your anxiety is not without reason, since there are many childhood diseases that can be harmful or even fatal to children.
Leukemia is perhaps the most common type of cancer compromising 47.8% of all childhood cancers1. Hodgkin’s Disease1 or non-Hodgkin Lymphoma is the third childhood cancer comprising 9% of childhood cancer. Aside from these types of cancers, certain brain disorders are also common in children. These include cerebral palsy and neuroblastoma. Cerebral palsy severely impairs the development of the motor functions and afflicts 1-2 percent of the Philippine population2. Neuroblastoma, on the other hand, causes the sufferer to lose the ability to empty the bladder, experience paralysis of the hips, feet, legs and uncontrolled movement.
Research into the use of cord blood and cord lining stem cells have been ongoing since the 1980s and has shown promise of saving lives and treating life-threatening diseases. More than 30,000 cord blood stem cell transplants3 have already been performed since 1988.
