Environment Minister of India, Jairam Ramesh, Calls for Reduced Animal Testing Via New Technology

It's well known that animal testing / vivisection is outdated and ineffectual in many ways and that technology has put forth superior non-animal testing methods. For more on this see our Alternatives to Animal Testing page at http://www.geari.org/alternatives-to-animal-testing.html

Article:

Ramesh for technology to replace clinical trial of animals

Press Trust of India / New Delhi January 15, 2010, 16:20 IST

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ramesh-for-technology-to-replace-clinical-trialanimals/83223/on

Concerned over increasing use of animals for clinical trials, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today advocated alternatives to reduce the practice and said India was taking certain steps in that direction.

"Recent trend shows the use of primates in experimentation is on an upward climb. With the development of human genome research, activities of commercial units and industries and modern methods, there is growing demand of primates in experimentation.

"But, we need not open the floodgates to use animals in experimentation in the name of academic knowledge," he said after inaugurating 'National Conference, 2010' of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), here.
He said it was because of international concern and action taken by animal rights activists, civil society organisations, NGOs etc in the country that there was growing awareness and consciousness in the commitments to not use animals.

"But we need to transform to replacement and use modern technology to ensure alternatives which meets the concern of animal lovers. We are taking tentative steps to enter refinement phase.

"We must refine our methods, and replace animals in experiments. Indian culture respect all forms of life, human as well as animal. We will show respect in use of animals in experimentation," he added.

Massachusetts General Hospital to Use and then Kill Sheep in Trauma Training: What you Can do to Stop It

Received this from PCRM, a great group dedicated to ending vivisection.  Please read below for more information.  Pretty easy to act.

By the way, you’ll see the TraumaMan System mentioned below.  This is a surgical simulation tool that provides an alternative to animal testing or vivisection.  You can learn more about this incredible animal testing alternative at http://www.simulab.com/home-traumaman-system

Email received:

On Monday and Tuesday, live sheep are scheduled to be used and then killed in a trauma training course at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. We need your help to end this unnecessary and cruel practice.

Mass General may be one of the nation’s best hospitals, but it is woefully behind the times when it comes to teaching Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS). Across the nation, more than 90 percent of ATLS courses are taught using only human-based simulators, which Mass General currently owns.

Please call, e-mail, or write a letter to Massachusetts General Hospital president Peter L. Slavin, M.D., and politely ask him to end animal use in the institution’s ATLS program. Then forward this message to your friends who care about animals and effective medical education. Being polite is the most effective way to help these animals. 

Peter L. Slavin, M.D.

President

Massachusetts General Hospital

55 Fruit St.

Boston, MA 02114

Tel: 617-724-9300

E-mail: pslavin (at) partners.org

Mass General owns the American College of Surgeons-approved simulator known as the TraumaMan System. The hospital uses the simulator to teach ATLS surgical skills to medical students while using live sheep to teach the very same procedures to practicing physicians.

On May 14, PCRM filed a formal request with Mass General’s Subcommittee on Research Animal Care asking that it deny the use of animals in the hospital’s ATLS program.

The letter cites an ongoing survey by PCRM, which has so far received responses from 201 ATLS programs in the United States and Canada. The survey has found that 187 of those programs (more than 90 percent) exclusively use nonanimal models for instruction. The vast majority of those 187 programs exclusively use the TraumaMan System.

Learn more about the TraumaMan System (http://www.simulab.com/home-traumaman-system). If you have any questions, please contact me at rmerkley (at) pcrm.org. Thanks so much for your help!

Best regards,

Ryan Merkley

Manager of Humane Education Programs