Non-human primates Links

1. Some of the websites providing factual information on Non-human primates in research and safety testing:

   • 1. Links on the use of laboratory animals and non-human primates in research
   • 2. Links to organizations promoting the use of alternatives to animal testing

1. Links on the use of laboratory animals and non-human primates in research

• The European Commission’s web pages on Laboratory Animals providing information on current EU legislation, reports, statistics, etc.:
  http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/home_en.htm 
• The European Commission supports animal welfare research, notably projects aiming to develop alternative methods to experiments on animals:
  http://ec.europa.eu/research/leaflets/animal/index_en.html 
• The European Primate Network (EUPRIM-NET) consists of eight European primate centres that combine research in biological and biomedical fields and breeding: www.euprim-net.eu 
• The Council of Europe provides texts and documents related to the European convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes at:
  wwww.coe.int/T/E/Legal_affairs/Legal_co-operation/Biological_safety,_use_of_animals/ 
• "International guidelines for the acquisition, care and breeding of nonhuman primates" prepared by the Captive Care Committee of the International Primatological Society:
   www.internationalprimatologicalsociety.org
• In the UK, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Medical Research Council, the Royal Society, and the Wellcome Trust sponsored an independent report by a working group chaired by Sir David Weatherall on the use of non-human primates in biological and medical research (2006). It concludes that there is a strong scientific case for maintaining work on non-human primates for carefully selected research problems in many of the areas studied, at least for the foreseeable future:
  http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?changes=0&latest=1&id=5698 
• The UK Research Defence Society and Coalition for Medical Progress created “Understanding Animal Research” to achieve understanding and acceptance of the need for humane animal research in the UK: www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk 
• The American Society of Primatologists answers some commonly asked questions on non-human primate research at: www.asp.org/research/faq.html 

2. Links to organizations promoting the use of alternatives to animal testing

• The European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) is a joint initiative of the European Commission, European trade associations and individual companies to promote new methods for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (3Rs) and modern alternative approaches in the field of safety testing. More information at:
  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/epaa/ 
• The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) was created in 1991 and promotes the scientific and regulatory acceptance of non-animal tests which are of importance to biomedical sciences: http://ecvam.jrc.it 
• The Alternatives to Animal Testing Web Site of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health serves as a gateway to Internet resources on the topic. Besides a series of publications, it answers certain frequently asked questions at: http://altweb.jhsph.edu/faqs.htm 
• The UK National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) brings together stakeholders in the 3Rs in academia, industry, government and animal welfare organizations to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas, and the translation of research findings into practice that will benefit both animals and science: www.nc3rs.org.uk