The Central government is contemplating to frame a legislation to put an end to large number of unethical practices engaged in by some hospitals and clinics in the name of stem cell therapy especially involving embryonic stem cells throughout the country, it is learnt.
According to the Union health and family welfare minister Dr Ambumani Ramdoss, the new statute might be called 'Assisted Human Reproductive Bill' and would deal with all kinds of research work being done on human beings. "For stem cell therapy, we have got bio-ethical guidelines submitted recently by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to the health ministry. Our objective is to bring in an Act to streamline the stem cell therapy and research work in this field" he said while inaugurating In-vitro Fertilization Facility at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) here.
The minister said that government would soon discuss the matter with law ministry and will decide about framing of the bill on stem cell research, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and cloning.
He said that the government was also keen to develop India as a centre for the stem cell therapy and in this context government would support this emerging area with all financial and technical assistance.
"Since AIIMS is a leading institute in India with adequate medical expertise and technical advancement, we can make AIIMS a hub for stem cell research. The Institute has already done a lot of innovative work in this area" the minister added.