The ethics of research involving animals - Nuffield Council on ...

T h e e t h i c s o f r e s e a r c h i n v o l v i n g a n i m a l s
Japan
<strong>The</strong>re are no <strong>of</strong>ficial statistics for the use <strong>of</strong> <strong>animals</strong> in scientific procedures in Japan. A voluntary
survey is conducted every four or five years by the Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal
Science (JALAS):
■ <strong>The</strong> most recent survey covered April 2001–March 2002 for which 889 <strong>research</strong>ers <strong>of</strong>
universities, institutes, testing laboratories and companies were polled (response rate 57%).
■ <strong>The</strong>se figures total approximately 4.7 million <strong>animals</strong>.
■ Almost 2 million <strong>of</strong> these were GM <strong>animals</strong>, 99% <strong>of</strong> which were mice.
<strong>The</strong> data summarised below relate to the period between April 2001 and March 2002. 6
Figure 8: Animals used in scientific procedures in Japan April 2001–March 2002 by species
(numbers <strong>of</strong> <strong>animals</strong>)
■ A separate survey conducted by the Japanese Association for Laboratory Animals in National
Universities (JALAN) estimated that approximately 1.28 million <strong>animals</strong> were used in
experiments by medical education and <strong>research</strong> institutes in 1999. 7
6 Committee for Laboratory Animal Care and Use (2003) <strong>The</strong> number <strong>of</strong> live <strong>animals</strong> used in experiments in 2001 – results <strong>of</strong> a
survey Exp Anim 52: 143.
7 Ninomiya H and Inomata T (1998) Current uses <strong>of</strong> laboratory <strong>animals</strong> in Japan and alternative methods in <strong>research</strong>, testing
and education App Anim Behav Sci 59: 219–25; Matsuda Y (2004) Recent trends in the number <strong>of</strong> laboratory <strong>animals</strong> used in
Japan ATLA 32, Supplement 1: 299–301.
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