THE USE of animals in medical research is an emotional subject which some prey upon.

A forgotten voice in this debate is that of the people with the highest stakes at risk, their lives, and this has to be rectified.

When medical research is attacked, then the rights of the seriously-ill are threatened.

We need to make a stand in support of research aimed at improving our health and spread the word that for the sake of patients, animal research should continue.

Not all medical research involves animals.

For every £1 spent on medical research, only 5p is spent on animal experiments, which are vital and complement computer studies, test tube experiments and cell and tissue culture.

There are limits to what non-animal techniques can do.

For example cell and tissue culture only tell us what happens in cell and tissue culture, and so aren't much use when we need to study a living body.

The use of animals has played an valuable role in bridging the gap between test tube and patient, and enabling medical progress.

We would not have vaccines and antibiotics which have virtually eradicated polio, whooping cough and diptheria, modern surgery to transplant dying hearts and kidneys, or treatments for diabetes and cancer, without animal research which most of us take for granted.

It is important that we safeguard the development of new medicines for unsolved health problems such as cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy, stroke and spinal injury and many, many more, and that we appreciate patients' rights in this argument.

Seriously Ill for Medical Research (SIMR) is a patients' group which supports the humane use of animals and genetic technology, where necessary, in medical research.

For a free information pack, please write to SIMR, PO Box 504, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU6 2LU.

Our website is located at: http://www.simr.org.uk

Thomas Bromley

SIMR Member

Littlehampton

West Sussex