Opinion - Editorials

Men, mice & medicines

A NATION'S SENSITIVITY is measured through several barometers. An important one is the manner in which it cares for, protects and nurtures animals. The issue of experimentation on animals, which involves the critical question of their humane treatment, stands the risk of being tainted by political colour in India with the bitter confrontation between the Ministers responsible for Health and Animal Care. That the clash is serious enough to invite the intervention of the Prime Minister, A. B. Vajpayee, is evident from the extreme positions taken by the two Ministers, C. P. Thakur and Maneka Gandhi. At the core of the dispute is the question of who should be in-charge of regulating experimentation on animals. Despite the assurance by the Health & Family Welfare Ministry that it will not compromise on animal welfare, its demand that it should be the sole authority to regulate animal experimentation suffers from the inherent problem of conflict of interests. It will be in the interest of both animal welfare and medical research if a clear and complete distinction is maintained between research and monitoring bodies. For too long, safe laboratory practices have been given short shrift by those using animals for experimentation. The observations over the past two years by the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) that a large number of animal houses maintained by laboratories are in a state of dirt and disease expose the shoddy manner in which the country has cared for hapless animals who cannot voice their protest.

Reports of a continued defiance of even the basic prescribed norms for animal protection fly in the face of the laws that have been passed and the bodies that have been created to safeguard the interests of animals. The defenceless animals cannot be held hostage to cruel justifications such as paucity of financial resources for the lack of proper facilities. The need of the hour is to strengthen the monitoring mechanism. To do so, maintaining the administrative independence of regulators is crucial. Blurring the lines of distinction between research and supervisory bodies is dangerous, not only to animals, but to human lives as well. For, unless research is carried out in accordance with prescribed norms, the reliability of the results and the efficacy of the drugs developed become questionable, thereby defeating the argument for experimentation on animals. Pressures that could be brought in by powerful vested interests in the name of scientific advances should be resisted. Chalking out a just solution that accords high priority to animal safety and ensures that research is not stifled is the challenge confronting policymakers. The veterinary expertise in the country should also be involved to formulate a meaningful monitoring mechanism.

While these remedial measures call for immediate attention, in the long term the commonly accepted justifications for the use of animals as experimental specimen should be critically re-evaluated in the light of modern advances. With developments, for instance, in computing and the ability to develop three-dimension models there should be a serious effort to use techniques of simulation wherever possible. Not to be forgotten in this debate is that the first step towards such insensitivity takes place in schools and colleges in the form of dissections. There is no better place to start the process of replacing the scalpel with the computer than educational institutions. As in several other areas concerning society, recent success stories should be popularised and replicated. Above all, there should be the realisation that as long as animals are continued to be tortured in the name of research, India cannot truly stake claim to being a caring and sensitive nation.

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