Britain is the largest user of primates for research in Europe
They are used in research because they are genetically similiar to humans. However, no matter how similar they are they are not the same. The fundamental differences between primates and humans make testing on the useless at best and dangerous at worse.
For example:
After 20 years the European Union laws that govern animal testing across Europe and the UK are being revised. However, this does not offer a total ban on animal testing. The aim of the Directive is to improve standards for millions of animals and provide the possibility of a ban on primate testing.
- An arthritis drug (Opren) is known to have killed 61 people even though it has been safely tested on monkeys.
- The so called 'elephant-man' drug was tested on 25 monkeys and shown to be uite safe. However, it was tested on 6 healthy, human volunteers who suffered organ failure as aresult.
- Another arthritis drug (Flosint) was tested on monkeys and they tolerated the medication well. In humans it caused deaths.
- Doses for an asthma drug were worked out on monkeys but were too high for humans. This caused the deaths of thousands of people.
- Thousands of chimapnzees have been experimented on in the hope of finding a cure for AIDS; Chimpanzees recover from AIDS whereas humans do not.
After 20 years the European Union laws that govern animal testing across Europe and the UK are being revised. However, this does not offer a total ban on animal testing. The aim of the Directive is to improve standards for millions of animals and provide the possibility of a ban on primate testing.