Health Ministry: Cord Blood Exports Suspended, Shortcomings Uncovered in System

Bratislava, February 11 (TASR) - An audit by the Health Ministry of facilities carrying out the taking of cord blood revealed specific shortcomings, mostly concerning an incorrect labelling of tissues, Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) announced on Tuesday. Because of this, Sasko ordered two more audits, focused specifically on the imports and exports of tissue cells and until these shortcomings are remedied, exports of cord blood have been suspended. In October 2024, MP Vladimira Marcinkova (SaS) pointed to problems with donations of cord blood, which, according to her view, had been used for "experimental and profit-oriented purposes". Cord blood in Slovakia is taken by the Slovak Register of Placental Haemoplastic Cells, which is a part of the privately-owned Cord Blood Center Group. According to Marcinkova, the group sells the blood as a commercial commodity abroad. Register director Zohdy Hamid took objection to the "negative campaign" and claimed that the lawmaker is out to discredit the company in a purpose-built manner. mf/mcs