Consumer Perspectives on Access to Stem Cell Therapies in Australia: What People Living with Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy and Musculoskeletal Conditions Want to See Change – Policy Brief

This brief summarises consumer and carer perspectives on access to stem cell-based interventions (SCBIs) in Australia, drawn from an MRFF-funded qualitative research project. The study interviewed people living with, or caring for someone with, multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy (CP) and musculoskeletal conditions (predominantly osteoarthritis, OA). Across all three conditions, participants described uncertainty about how cellular therapies work, difficulty finding trustworthy information, confusing and inequitable access pathways, and frustration with regulatory and clinical decision-making that many experienced as slow, opaque or inconsistently applied. At the same time, participants were realistic, most did not expect a 'silver bullet' and wanted better information and fairer systems more than they wanted unconditional access. The central table in the brief sets out the concerns participants raised most consistently, matched against the system improvements and solutions they, and the consumer organisations partnering on this project, proposed. Four priority areas emerge: (1) trustworthy, centralised information and decision support; (2) equitable access regardless of location or ability to pay; (3) transparent, consistently applied evidence and regulatory processes; and (4) a stronger, more structural role for patient voice in decisions that affect them.