RARE DISORDERS LOBBY SAYS GOVT SHOULD BE PROVIDING CORD BLOOD.

(From New Zealand Press Association)

Wellington, Jan 31 - A national lobbyist for people with rare diseases says a private sector bid to set up a blood bank to hold fluid from umbilical cords may mislead many people into ``an expensive investment of dubious value''.

``The likely benefits seem overstated and many people may be misled into an expensive investment of dubious value,'' John Forman, executive director of the New Zealand Organisation for Rare Disorders (NZORD) said today.

His lobby had ``noted with some concern'' the promotion of the private umbilical cord blood bank recently set up in New Zealand, and the fact that a public hospital …