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Each year, more than 100 million animals—more than three each second—are bred, injected, infected, cut open, genetically altered, and more, in the name of science.
Biomedical research aims to discover the causes of human illnesses and to prevent or treat them, but the benefits of today’s health research are becoming harder to see. A stunning 9 out of every 10 candidate new medicines that appear safe and effective in "animal models" fail in human trials due to unforeseen toxicity or lack of effectiveness. Research that never delivers because of irrelevant or misleading animal models delays medical progress and risks the safety of volunteers in clinical trials.
HSI’s Science Team is exposing failed animal models and pressing for funding to be shifted to more promising—and ethical—avenues of research.
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Animal Models
How many millions in precious health research funds are wasted each year on animal research that provides no actual medical benefit?
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Stronger Legal Protections
HSI played a key role in securing life-saving measures under Europe's new animal experiments law. Now we're working to extend these precedents globally.
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Advancing Humane Science
Imagine a world where lab rats are replaced by lab robots, with high-tech computer models instead of faulty animal models. It’s not science fiction—it’s the future of biomedical research.
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Support Our Work
HSI's high-impact campaigns are achieving major reductions in animal testing around the world, but millions more animals need our help, and we need your help to save them.
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News
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January 23, 2019
Humane Society International praises European vaccine authority for scrapping obsolete animal test for whooping cough prevention
Last week the European Pharmacopoeia Commission announced its decision to modernize Europe’s accepted process for safety assessment of vaccines for pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, by adopting a modern cell-based method in place of an inhumane and unreliable test in mice.
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January 18, 2019
India’s first government centre on alternatives to animal use in biomedical research to be established by Indian Council of Medical Research
In a historic move to advance both human medical progress and move away from reliance on monkeys, dogs and other animals as models of human disease, the Indian Council of Medical Research, under the aegis of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, has announced its plans to establish a new “ICMR Centre of Excellence in Human Pathway-Based Biomedicine and Risk Assessment” in Hyderabad.
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November 30, 2018
New poll shows Koreans overwhelmingly support policy changes and increased funding to replace animal testing
A new nationwide public opinion poll reveals that 85 percent of Koreans support increasing research funding for alternatives to replace animal testing. The vast majority (also 85 percent) of those polled would prefer that their tax dollars be spent on non-animal test methods instead of animal testing. The poll was commissioned by Humane Society International and conducted by Realmeter.
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September 21, 2018
HSI/India teams up with ReaGene Biosciences to advance non-animal testing research in India
HSI/India and ReaGene Biosciences have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop alternatives to animal testing and to promote their use.
