Group alarmed over stem cells from aborted fetuses

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) yesterday raised the alarm over the possible entry in the country of stem cells harvested from aborted human fetuses.

Leo Olarte, PSSCM spokesman, said word is getting round the industry that some unscrupulous individuals are bringing in these stem cells which are being used in the country.

“This is unethical and inhuman since they were taken from fetuses that were really intended for abortion. I urge the Department of Health to look into this,” he said in an interview.

Olarte said the use of stem cells from human fetus is prevalent in countries like Ukraine, Switzerland, Russia and Malaysia where “even normal healthy babies are being used to harvest what has been termed as allogeneic sourced-out stem cells.”

These stem cells are being used for both sick and healthy patients for aesthetic procedures.

Olarte, vice president of the Philippine Medical Association, revealed that a Malaysian pharmaceutical group has started offering human-derived allogeneic stem cells sourced from Ukraine and Russia to several Filipino doctors.

Olarte added that while there is nothing irregular with allogeneic stem cells, it is not yet accepted in the Philippines where autologous stem cells are preferred.

Allogeneic is when a patient receives stem cells donated by someone else while autologous is when a patient gets cells from his own body.

Olarte was prompted to issue the warning after attending a scientific forum in the United States that tackled the issue of human commoditization for commercial and economic purposes.

“We cannot stand by and merely watch how they exploit people in poverty just to profit while allowing others who are economically well off to benefit from this,” he said.

He also urged the Catholic Church to help put a stop to the practice because of its “unethical and immoral implications.”