Prospects for Medical Care in Russia Based on the Use of Cord Blood Cells

Abstract

This article presents the results of a qualitative empirical sociological study assessing the prospects of implementation of cord blood stem cells in Russian health care. Today, new biotechnologies in medical practice and the delivery of medical care to the population on their basis are rarely the object of attention in social sciences. More often, biotechnology and biobanking become the object of research interest in philosophical bioethics. Thus, the need for social and humanitarian support for the creation of biobanks is justified, attempts are made to outline the ethical framework of the new type of medicine, and attention is paid to issues of informed consent of biobank donors. However, the cord blood biobanking industry has rarely been the subject of sociology’s research attention. As a result of analysis of 11 free interviews with employees of public and private cord blood banks, we investigated the opportunities and challenges arising from providing personalized and preventive medical care based on the use of cord blood stem cells. Theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the concept of '4P medicine' and the concepts of the new institutional approach. Today, the possibilities of application of cellular material go beyond the classical application in the treatment of oncology and are increasingly focused on regenerative medicine. The study revealed the main problems of institutionalization of cord blood cell use in Russia, which include: 1) imperfect legal framework for practical, medical application of cellular material; 2) lack of funding (both public and private) to conduct clinical trials of cell preparations and their introduction into Russian healthcare; 3) reduction in the donor register of cord blood samples; 4) doctors of various specialties exhibiting low willingness to turn to cellular technologies in their medical practice. The experts link the prospects for the development of medical care based on cell technologies with the creation of its regulatory framework, education ('cognitive legitimization') of the population and medical professionals about the possibilities of modern biotechnology, and the expansion of consumer demand for cord blood preservation services.