What is… stem cell tourism?
“Stem cell tourism” is a term that has recently emerged to describe the increasing number of people heading overseas for medical stem cell treatments that are not approved or available in Australia.
In Australia, and many other countries around the world, stem cell therapy is only approved to treat blood disorders such as leukemia. Whilst research is moving rapidly and showing great promise, the use of any type of stem cell as a therapy for diseases like type 1 diabetes is still firmly classed as experimental. This doesn’t mean these therapies won’t work, just that scientists and clinicians have deemed there isn’t enough data available to demonstrate patient safety as well as a long term benefit.
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The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council has lifted a five-year ban on the clinical use of xenotransplantation – a medical process involving the transplantation of animal tissue into humans to treat disease.



