New Delhi: A one-day National Conference on Welfare of Laboratory Animals was organised by the Committee for the Purpose of Control And Supervision of Experiments on Animals, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on 9th January at New Delhi. The theme of the deliberations was “Implementation of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) while using animals in academic research and regulatory testing in India”.
The conference deliberated upon elaborating the understanding of animal use in academics, as well as regulatory testing and evaluating the use of alternatives, wherever animals can be exempted from testing. The conference also included brainstorming sessions in the form of panel discussions, which had eminent scientists working with animals, versus those working in the field of alternatives.
The conference laid emphasis on the issue of ethical use of animals in academics and regulatory testing in India. The discussions were focussed on evaluating the possibilities of exemption of animal experiments in academics and regulatory testing.
The CPCSEA is mandated to alleviate pain and suffering to the laboratory animals before, during or after the performance of experiments on them. The body is, therefore, is trying to find appropriate alternatives to the use of animals in experiments in India.
Eminent speakers who disseminated valuable information regarding the ethical use of animals were Director, National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), Dr Subeer Majumdar, Professor, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Dr K. Muralidhar, Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology, AIIMS, Dr Y K Gupta and Director, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Dr Alok Dhawan,. The conference was also attended by representatives from animal welfare organisations like PFA, and PETA India, to encourage the exchange of views between the stakeholders.
The conference was attended by 200 participants from all over the country from various research establishments. The inaugural session of the Conference was chaired by Additional Secretary, MoEF&CC, Mr A K Jain and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), Dr G N Singh.
