[Animals] Switzerland votes on becoming the first country to ban animal testing

[#Wittels-]

Switzerland will vote on Sunday to decide whether to become the first country in the world to completely ban medical tests on animals, after animal advocates muster enough support to hold a referendum in the country, which is home to a huge pharmaceutical sector. . More than 550,000 animals died in laboratory tests in 2020 in Switzerland, according to official statistics. The figure includes 400,000 mice and rats, almost 4,600 dogs, 1,500 cats and 1,600 horses. Primates, cows, pigs, fish and birds also appeared during and after the experiments.

 

"It's cruel and necessary to experiment on animals and I'm sure we can develop medicine without it," said Renato Werndli, a doctor from northeastern Switzerland who launched the initiative under the Swiss system of direct democracy. The result of the referendum will be binding. However, the ban is not expected to pass, much to the relief of the pharmaceutical industry, which has announced the move would halt the development of new drugs and force companies and researchers to move abroad.

 

More than 550,000 animals died in laboratory tests in 2020 in Switzerland

"We must not exploit animals for our own selfish purposes," said Werndli, who says that research methods such as biochips - small chips that host a large number of biochemical reactions - computer simulations or microdosing in humans are more effective than animal testing. Pharmaceutical lobby group Interpharma says the sector, which includes companies such as Roche and Novartis, contributes 9% to the Swiss economy, including spillovers, and generates almost half of the country's exports.

 

Interpharma has led industry opposition, saying the proposals would be devastating if passed. "Pharmaceutical research, clinical studies in hospitals and basic research in universities ... would no longer be possible," Interpharma CEO René Buholzer said.

Pharmaceutical bosses said a ban on animal testing could spell the end for new drugs. “I think that it has been seen in the times of Covid how important it is to discover new vaccines, how important new medicines are. And they have been tested on animals,” Idorsia CEO Jean-Paul Clozel told Reuters.

 

Maries van den Broek of the University of Zurich is carrying out research in which tumors are implanted in mice to study how their immune systems can be boosted to fight cancer. "Because we don't understand even 10% of the processes that take place inside a tumor, it is impossible to use computer models or cell cultures to understand the complex biology of cancer," he explained.

Before scientists begin an animal experiment, they must show that there is no other alternative and that their research is important. "We use about 750 mice a year. They all die at the end of the experiment, but there is no alternative," he said. "Without this particular experiment, we haven't developed treatments that save human lives."

 

The latest opinion polls show only 26% of voters in favor of the ban and 68% against it. Switzerland holds referendums four times a year, and last year voted in favor of the government's proposed coronavirus restrictions and the approval of same-sex marriage.

Werndli said the campaign had raised awareness of the plight of laboratory animals, and he remained hopeful of success. "I hope that we can finally change and that Switzerland can be a positive example for the rest of the world to help stop animal suffering," he said. (Reporting by John Revill; additional reporting by Paul Arnold; editing by Alexandra Hudson; converted by Tomás Cobos)

 

Link: https://www.lavanguardia.com/natural/20220210/8047058/suiza-experimentacion-animal-pmv.html