August 17, 2012 • Posted in Project R&R News
UPDATE: In June 2013, NIH accepted all but one of the Council of Councils' recommendations. Visit our News page regularly to stay updated and learn how you can help ensure all chimpanzees are retired to sanctuary.
In advance of the Working Group on the Use of Chimpanzees in NIH Supported Research’s September 5, 2012 meeting, NEAVS submitted comments to the Working Group highlighting a petition with over 835 signitures of members of the scientific, academic, and health professional communities who support ending the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research and testing, and retiring the chimpanzees. Read the comments and petition here.
Background information:
The NIH charged the Council of Councils Working Group on the Use of Chimpanzees in NIH-Supported Research with providing recommendations on how to implement the findings of the Institute of Medicine (IOM)’s December 2011 study “Chimpanzees in Biomedical and Behavioral Research: Assessing the Necessity.”
The NIH charged the Working Group with:
- Developing a plan for implementing IOM’s guiding principles and criteria;
- Analyzing currently active NIH-supported research using chimpanzees to assess which studies meet the IOM principles and criteria and the process for closing studies if they do not;
- Advising on the size and placement of active and inactive populations of NIH-owned or-supported chimpanzees that result from implementing IOM recommendations; and
- Developing a review process for considering whether potential future use of the chimpanzee in NIH-supported research is scientifically necessary and consistent with the IOM principles.