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What Organizations Say About Animal Research
The essential need for humane and responsible animal
research is recognized and supported by medical and health societies,
scientific organizations and government agencies around the world.
The following statements are among many that have been made publicly
in order to promote public understanding of this essential practice.
American Academy of Pediatrics
"Animals are essential for biomedical research.
Animals offer the best hope of finding the cause, treatment, and
prevention for many diseases that inflict pain, disability, and
death. The study of animals remains a necessary prelude to using
human subjects. ...Our choice is clear: animals must continue to
play a vital role in medical research. Future generations of humans
and animals cannot be denied better health."
American
Association for the Advancement of Science
In 1990, the American Association for the Advancement
of Science resolved to continue "to support the use of animals
in scientific research." Read
more.
American Medical Association
"The AMA (1) reaffirms its commitment to public education
by encouraging physicians to place copies of material describing
the medical benefits of animal research in their office waiting
rooms; (2) supports heightened public awareness and education with
regard to the types of animal models employed in research and efforts
employed to avoid animal suffering; and (3) stresses to the public
its concern with regard to the impact of the animal rights movement
on the conduct of biomedical research, as well as support for the
proper and humane treatment of animals in research." Read more.
American Physiological Society
"Depriving sick human beings of the benefits
of animal research is inhumane and reprehensible. The American Physiological
Society advocates the use of animals for research and teaching as
the most humane response to the need to relieve mankind from the
suffering caused by disease. The use of animals is necessary if
researchers are to combat illness, which affects both human beings
and animals. "
American Veterinary Medical Association
"For animals, as well as people, preventive
medical care is key to good health. Advances in preventive medical
care depend on well-conducted animal research. Targeted products
and techniques developed through nutritional and breeding research
ensure that kittens, puppies, foals, calves, and piglets grow into
strong adults. Medications to prevent and treat infestation by parasites,
such as heartworms and hookworms, could not have been developed
without the contributions of animal research. Vaccines for animals
(e.g., parvovirus, feline leukemia, rabies, distemper, infectious
hepatitis, hog cholera, blue tongue) and humans (e.g., polio, measles,
mumps, rubella, smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, tetanus)
that were developed through animal research have saved millions
of lives." Read more.
Association of Medical Research Charities
"Medical research involving animals has brought
major improvements in the health and well-being of humans. There
are difficult ethical judgements to be made over the use of animals
in medical research, but there is no doubt that the use of animals
continues to be essential in some areas of research if people are
to benefit from healthcare advances." Read
more.
Association of Professors of Medicine
"It is important to recognize that the use
of animals will remain essential to the search for new medical knowledge
that ultimately will save lives and help relieve human suffering."
Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences
The Council for International Organizations of
Medical Sciences (CIOMS) is an international, nongovernmental, non-profit-making
organization established jointly by the World Health Organization
(WHO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) in 1949. CIOMS's guiding principles for animal research
states: "The advancement of biological knowledge and the development
of improved means for the protection of the health and well-being
both of man and of animals require recourse to experimentation on
intact live animals of a wide variety of species." Read
more.
House of Lords
A Select Committee of the United Kingdom's House of Lords
concluded in 2002 that "it is morally acceptable for human
beings to use other animals, but that it is morally wrong to cause
them unnecessary or unavoidable suffering. There is at present a
continued need for animal experiments both in applied research and
in research aimed purely at extending basic knowledge. Toxicological
testing in animals is at present essential for medical practice
and the protection of consumers and the environment , as it often
provides information that is not currently available from any other
source." Read more.
National Institutes of Health
"The fact is that laboratory animals are indispensable
to progress in medicine: in assisting medical scientists to discover
the cause of disease, how illness affects tissues and organs, and
what different approaches may work. Research animals are as important
to your health as the scientist's test tube."
The Royal Society
Founded in 1660, the Royal Society is the United
Kingdom's national academy of science. In 2002, the Council of the
Royal Society issued a statement in favor of animal research: "We
have all benefited immensely from scientific research involving
animals. From antibiotics and insulin to blood transfusions and
treatments for cancer or HIV, virtually every medical achievement
in the past century has depended directly or indirectly on research
on animals. The same is true for veterinary medicine. Modern biology,
with all its contributions to the well-being of society, is heavily
dependent on research on animals. Along with the great majority
of the scientific community, the Royal Society considers that the
benefits provide the justification for the research that led to
them." Read
more.
World Medical Association
At the 41st World Medical Assembly in 1989, the
World Medical Association, an international organization representing
physicians, issued a statement on animal research: "Animal
use in biomedical research is essential for continued medical progress."
Read more.
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References
1. American Academy
of Pediatrics. "Your Child May Have Been Saved Through Animal
Research." 1987.
2. The American
Phsyiological Society. "Statements on Animal Usage." October,
1987.
3. Association of
Professors of Medicine. "Must Animls Be Used in Biomedical
Research?" 1985.
4. National Institutes
of Health, Public Heath Service. "Do We Care About Research
Animals?" NIH Publication No. 79-355
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