More than a year after Parliament passed the controversial Stem Cell Therapy and Research Bill, Prime Minister Perry Christie said the government has completed the accompanying regulations and expects to begin approving applications for stem cell centers this month.
In an interview on Thursday, Christie told The Nassau Guardian that he expects Cabinet to approve stem cell regulations tomorrow.
Following a tour of a boutique hotel on Rose Island, Christie said, "The stem cell regulations are on the agenda of the Cabinet now.
"They have been completed. They have been seen by experts who we had retained, who contributed to their making, like the University of Miami."
Christie did not say how much the government spent to engage the consultants to advance the regulations.
"The Cabinet will approve them without any doubt whatsoever on Tuesday next," he said.
"And then, at the first available opportunity, and why it is critical that we move it is because we have applications waiting to be approved.
"And so, therefore, one can anticipate that the stem cell environment will be initiated within the month of September.
"Applications will begin to be processed. And where most certainly the group in Grand Bahama, who have spent over $10 million and are waiting for approval, [will] have their application processed."
The prime minister was speaking about an institute in Grand Bahama that is looking to treat coronary artery disease using cardiac stem cell therapy.
Christie has said stem cell regulations will ensure the highest standards of research and treatment are adhered to, to ensure, on the medical tourism front, that there is no doubt about standards in The Bahamas.
In March, Christie said the University of Miami was studying the application of stem cells to seven different diseases with the approval of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
He said the dean of the medical school has agreed to be a part of the administration of the laws and regulations in The Bahamas.
"This will give us all the international credibility we want," Christie said.
"And they have a researcher who they recruited from Johns Hopkins University, who is a fellow of the University of Miami in charge of stem cell research.
"He will be on the National Ethics Committee that we appoint, made up of Bahamian and foreign physicians to, again, give us the credibility we want."
Parliament passed the Stem Cell Therapy and Research Bill in August, 2013.
The law is meant to place strict limits on the practice and to set up scientific review and an ethics committee to police the sector.
Bahamian heart surgeon Dr. Conville Brown has said he plans to open a stem cell center once the relevant laws are passed.
As of December, the government had four or five applications before it for stem cell centers, according to Minister of Health Dr. Perry Gomez.
Christie indicated that quite a bit of interest has been expressed, but believes people are waiting for the regulations to be passed before they apply.

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