Using animals for research

Press, 12 November 1981, Page 18

Using animals for research

From NZPA-Reuter in Geneva

The importance oi monkeys and other animals for medical research was discussed by wildlife managers and scientists who met at World Health Organisation headquarters in Geneva this week. Medical researchers are anxious to ensure adequate supplies of monkeys and other primates, with some laboratories already setting up their own breeding centres. The animals are valuable in testing the toxicity and safety of drugs and have played a major role in researching diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, malaria, and dengue fever. But conservationists are alarmed by the rapid depletion

of certain species, mainly because of disappearing natural habitats. Some call for a ban on the export of primates for laboratory purposes. The four-day informal consulation could produce guidelines on management of monkeys and other primates in the wild and In breeding centres, medical sources said. Anti-vivisectionists, who oppose what they see as the cruelty of using animals for medical testing, have not been invited to take part in the talks. The Swiss League against Vivisection organised the first international congress on replacing animals in medical and

scientific research in Geneva last June. Scientists mainly from the United States, Soviet Union, and Britain, together with wildlife specialists from countries including Ghana, Peru, Kenya, and Malaysia will consider what could be done to provide field surveys and other technical help in the exporting countries. This would give the researchers and conservationists a factual base on which to decide how many primates, if any, could be spared for testing. The W.H.O. may also be asked to draft guidelines on breeding primates in captivity, the medical sources said.