The General Assembly finds that umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells that may be used to treat blood cancers, such as leukemia, myeloma and lymphoma, and inherited immunodeficiencies and blood diseases, including sickle cell anemia, thalassemias, hemoglobinopathies, aplastic anemias and marrow failure disorders. Currently, such cord blood is most often discarded as medical waste. As a result, the current inventory of umbilical cord blood is insufficient to meet the medical demand and especially fails to provide matched units for many ethnic and racial groups, including multiethnic individuals. Therefore, the General Assembly declares that it is in the public interest and shall be the public policy of this state to encourage and facilitate the donation, collection and storage of umbilical cord blood and to make such blood units available for medical research and treatment.