Animals rights extremists have protested against the use of animals in experiments and have targeted research organisations, universities and drug companies, threatening violence against anyone involved.

About 3,500 primates, mainly monkeys such as macaques, are used for scientific research in Britain each year. The number is similar in France, Canada and Germany. No great apes have been used for research in Britain since 1986.

Of the 3,500, about 400 monkeys are used in basic research and the rest are used by the pharmaceutical industry to test new drugs.

Weatherall and a team of scientists who took 18 months to complete the report said primates provide valuable information about drugs and vaccines for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, which combined kill about 7 million people each year.

Animal research is also essential to improve knowledge of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, according to the report.

"In the neuroscience, there is still a case despite all the new developments in (brain) imaging and so on for the use of a small number of animals," said Weatherall.

The report emphasised the welfare of the animals, including good living conditions, access to outside areas, exercise and stimulation. It recommended all research should be carefully regulated and that organisations should share their findings.

Weatherall and his team also called for the establishment of regional centres of excellence for animal research.

Scientists praised the report, saying new IVF treatments and breakthrough medicines have been tested on primates.

But the Dr Hadwen Trust, a non-animal medical research charity in Britain, described the report as short-sighted, uninspired and misguided. "The report seriously underplays the importance of non-animal research methods," said Dr Gill Langley, the charity's science director.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Groups target medical mistakes to save lives

Last Updated: 2006-12-12 11:44:13 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Kim Dixon

CHICAGO - A group of health care leaders said on Tuesday they were banding together to make U.S. hospitals less dangerous places to get well.

The campaign by the nonprofit Institute For Healthcare Improvement, with the support of the American Hospital Association trade group and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeks to recruit hospitals to prevent 5 million medical mistakes over two years.

The institute estimates about 15 million medical mistakes occur in hospitals each year.

Between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die annually from preventable medical errors, according to a landmark report by the U.S. Institute of Medicine, which advises the federal government on health matters. More people die in U.S. hospitals from medical errors than perish from motor vehicle accidents or breast cancer.

"No one in health care can feel comfortable with the magnitude of infections, adverse drug events and other complications that hospital patients endure," said Donald Berwick, president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

To do this, the coalition wants 4,000 of the 5,000 U.S. hospitals to commit to at least one concrete improvement and report periodic quality and mortality data to the group.

Among the dozen interventions outlined include cutting medical prescription errors by focusing on transitions in hospital staff and following proven steps to prevent heart attack deaths.

The effort builds on an earlier campaign by adding six more quality measures, including encouraging hospitals to implement control systems to prevent deadly bacterial infections there.

Medication-related errors alone cost the health care system about $2 billion annually, the Institute of Medicine says.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.