THE views of Mrs Sheila Brennan on animal research (Letters, April 15) would find very little support from mainstream medicine and science. A recent British Medical Association survey showed that 19 out of 20 doctors agree that animal research is important to medical progress.
Further evidence, if it is needed, comes from Nobel Prizes for medicine: two thirds of those awarded this century have been for developments which depended on animals. These include insulin for diabetes, antibiotics, vaccines, transplantation, ECG and CAT scanning, as well as basic understanding of the nervous system, immune system, vitamins and hormones.
Animal research is still vital today, although a great deal of scientific effort has led to a significant reduction in numbers of animals used over the last 20 years. We all welcome this, and we must make sure that the animals which still need to be used are treated humanely and carefully.
BARBARA DAVIES, Deputy Director, Research Defence Society, Great Marlborough Street, London.
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