2016/05: Should animals be used for product testing, medical research and surgical skills training?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On September 27, 2015, the Today morning news program carried a report on Humane Research Australia's recent attempt to end scientific research involving animals. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'The procedures these animals have been subjected to are gruesome and could even be compared with Frankenstein-like experiments'
Helen Marston, the HRA chief executive officer
'The researchers and technicians that work with animals...feel a remarkably deep sense of responsibility that comes with the privilege of being able to work with them'
Professor Doug Hilton, director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
The issue at a glance
In April, 2016, media attention was focused on a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) petition urging the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) to cease using live animals in a surgical training course called Early Management of Severe Trauma (EMST). The objections of one petition signatory, who is now a plastic surgeon, to the use of animals during her training has been particularly highlighted.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has defended the use of live animals in some types of surgical training as the most effective way to prepare surgical trainees.
Relatedly, there have been calls over many years for Australia to ban the sale of cosmetic products which have ingredients tested on animals anywhere in their production history (including ingredients supplied from other countries). These calls have intensified since 2013 when the European Union, India and Israel strengthened their legislation against such products. While there have long been calls in both Australia and overseas for the end of medical research using animals.
In February, 2016, The Australian Labor Party introduced legislation to ban cosmetics animal testing in Australia and the import and manufacture of newly animal-tested cosmetic products and their ingredients.
Data released in January, 2016, on the more than six million animals, including baboons, dogs, cats and native mammals, being used every year in Australia for medical research, experiments and surgical skills training has led to renewed calls for the reduction or total ban of such practices.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is responsible for funding research involving animals. It is currently reviewing its policy on the care and use of non-human primates for scientific purposes.