Govt to bring guidelines to regulate stem cell therapy:ICMR DG

New Delhi, May 2: The Government is planning to bring a new set of guidelines to regulate the stem cell research and therapy in the country so as to address the moral and ethical issues associated with the new emerging field of medical treatment.

Indian Council of Medical Research Director General N K Ganguly said the ICMR has already finalised the draft of the guidelines and submitted it to the Health Ministry. Now the Ministry has to take a final decision and notify the policy guidelines, he informed and hoped that it would be done soon.

Pointing out that stem cells were the new emerging field which could revolutionise the medical treatment, he said that it needed to be properly regulated so as to ensure the patients' safety.

Stating that at present there was no law to regulate the stem cell research in the country, he said under the new guidelines ethics committee would decide about any malpractices being indulged into by a medical practitioner in the name of stem cell therapy.

However, he clarified that no legal action could be taken against medical practioners for any unsafe stem cell research being done by them. Only action could be taken against them for medical malpractices if proved before the ethics committee, he pointed out.

Stating that till now there was no written policy regulating stem cell therapy, he said that the country needs to pin point the areas on which it should focus to get optimum benefit of stem cell research and which stem cell therapy needed to be avoided in view of the danger to the health of people undergoing it.

The issue of regulating the stem cell research had come up following claims of a private maternity clinic that it was ''sucessfully treating patients using stem cell therapy.'' Among the patients who reportedly underwent unregulated stem cell therapy at the private clinic were senior Congress leader Ajit Jogi.

Stem cell research market in India is estimated to be about 540 million dollars by 2010. From a few institutes two years back, now over 30 institutions are involved in stem cell research, and India too has joined the ranks. The Government has invested 8 million dollars on stem cell research over the last two years and now several Government agencies too are supporting this.

The stem cell therapy generally focus on repairing a damaged tissue that could not heal itself. This might be accomplished by transplanting stem cells into the damaged area and directing them to grow to a new, healthy tissue. It may also be possible to 'coax' stem cells already in the body to work overtime and produce new tissue. To date, researchers have found more success with stem cell transplants.

The global market for stem cell therapy is expected to be 20 billion dollars by 2010, according to a study. There are almost 180 prominent companies working on stem cell research in the world, majority of which is based in the US, followed by the EU, Israel, Thailand, Canada, and Australia. India and China are also poised to play a key role in the scientific, clinical and commercial development of stem cell research.

Stem cell research could provide new treatments for diseases or injuries including skin burns, Alzheimer's, cancer or muscular dystrophy. It offers ray of hope of cures for such ailments as Parkinson's disease, diabetes and spinal cord injuries.

UNI