The Kiwi Contingent

Sasori

New member
Hi all
We are coming! And here's the article to prove it!
Thought this might encourage some of the Southern Hemisphere readers to get involved, and get talking about this therapy. We need to make a noise so that we can get some of the action happening down here!
Sorry, it's a bit fiddly...

Try this link, to a Google page, then click on the 3rd(?) one - Taieri Herald Online

http://www.google.co.nz/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPB_enNZ238NZ242&q=taieri+herald


Or

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx
And look down the left had side of the page - see the list of country names? Click on New Zealand, and then roll down the list of newspapers to the Taieri Herald (near the end of course, because it starts with T!).


So if you're in NZ or Ausy, and you know of any research going on in this field, or any rumours of research - let us know!

Cheers!
 

barbara

Pioneer Founding member
The Kiwi contingent - I love it. Is there any possibility that stem cell treatment will become available in either New Zealand or Australia anytime soon? There is a clinic now in the Philippines which one of our members recently went to for treatment. This forum is delighted to have you Kiwi's join us.
 

barbara

Pioneer Founding member
These are great stories. One mom said that her daughter would never be normal. Could we have even imagined just a few years ago that any treatment such as this would be available today? That is why I never use the word never.
Good to hear from you all Down Under.
 

pink7

New member
Greetings from Oz

I am still researching where to take my child for stem cell treatment. There are good clinics in Costa Rica/Mexico and Peru . They have good results.
Australia has some trials going on but not to treat patients yet. No sign of stem cell treatment for Autism or Cerebral Palsy here.

pink7
 

Sasori

New member
Hey there over the ditch

It's frustrating that we have to take our kids so far away. Of course us Kiwi's pride ourselves on our ingenuity, and for doing more than a wee country our size/population would normally do, and yet trying to get the professionals to talk about this type of stem cell treatment is like pulling teeth. We're doing research using pig cells going into humans to cure Type 1 Diabetes which I think is great. It is opening the door for this kind of medicine/thinking, but I think a lot of people are going to take a lot of convincing yet!
However, we do already use cord blood to treat things in NZ, most notably leukemia. So on our return we will be pushing for cord blood banking to be funded by the government. Storage for 2 years would also be funded, with parents then being able to choose to keep the blood privately for their child (at their own cost), or else donate it to the public bank for use in research and treatments.
When you think about the amount of money this could save on rehabilitation costs, less than $3,000 investment is chump change for the government. Daryl-Ann's seating system alone cost $11,000, then she's also got a standing frame, various other bits and pieces and services provided by orthotics, she receives PT, OT, SLT, aquatherapy, music therapy, as well as many more GP visits than a 'normal' kid, 4 stays (to date) in hospital, including 3 weeks in NICU, totalling 2 months so far, carer and domestic support...and that's just what I can rattle off at the moment! And she's only TWO YEARS OLD! Even logically and numerically (?!) it makes sense! If we'd had her cord blood, we would have been over to Duke Uni just as soon as we could have got an appt, and judging by the huge improvement seen in Maia (one of the links I gave), she would be tonnes better by now, with a greatly reduced need for equipment and therapies.
So, the first step to helping families like ours is getting that cord blood. Best to treat kids asap, and often they're just too little (with current abilities) to take use their own adult stem cells, so cord blood is the next best thing!
Is there public cord blood banking in Ausy or just private?
:)
 

pink7

New member
Cord Blood Banking

Yes, we do have Public cord blood banking and private. It is used to treat Leukaemia ,other blood diseases and also research. We hope that trials will soon start for other conditions. There is greater awareness but still a long way to go.:)
 

Sasori

New member
I know a couple of others

In Australia looking to take their kids to Mexico for treatment. What part of Ausy are you in? Send me a private message, I might be able to put you in touch with them.
 
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