416 • Alternatives to Animal Use in Research, Testing, and Education 
mals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Pur- 
poses. The appendix would require submission by 
agreeing nations of experimental -animal data, re- 
ported to the Secretary General for each calendar year 
under the general classifications established by the 
referenced articles. The method of data collection is 
left to each member nation (4). 
Guidelines of the Council for 
International Organizations of 
Medical Sciences 
Through the World Health Organization (WHO), 
headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, more than 150 
nations exchange information and share resources for 
laboratory -animal science training, technical informa- 
tion, consultative support, and other activities. 
In 1985, in the culmination of a 3-year effort initi- 
ated in 1982, the Council for International Organiza- 
tions of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), an international 
nongovernmental organization representative of many 
branches of medicine and cognate disciplines that was 
established under the auspices of WHO and UNESCO 
in 1949, issued International Guiding Principles for Bio- 
medical Research Involving Animals (7). 
Modeled after the Tokyo revision of the Declaration 
of Helsinki by the World Medical Association in 1975 
and CIOMS ’s Proposed International Guidelines for 
Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects, issued 
in 1982, the CIOMS International Guiding Principles 
are intended to provide a conceptual and ethical frame- 
work for whatever regulatory measure each country 
chooses to adopt with respect to animal use (7). 
The International Guiding Principles enumerate 11 
basic principles, as follows (7): 
I. The advancement of biological knowledge and 
the development of improved means for the pro- 
tection of the health and well-being both of man 
and of animals require recourse to experimen- 
tation on intact live animals of a wide variety of 
species. 
II. Methods such as mathematical models, computer 
simulation and in vitro biological systems should 
be used wherever appropriate. 
III. Animal experiments should be undertaken only 
after due consideration of their relevance for hu- 
man or animal health and the advancement of 
biological knowledge. 
IV. The animals selected for an experiment should 
be of an appropriate species and quality, and the 
minimum number required, to obtain scientifi- 
cally valid results. 
V. Investigators and other personnel should never 
fail to treat animals as sentient, and should re- 
gard their proper care and use and the avoidance 
or minimization of discomfort, distress, or pain 
as ethical imperatives. 
VI. Investigators should assume that procedures that 
would cause pain in human beings cause pain in 
other vertebrate species although more needs to 
be known about the perception of pain in 
animals. 
VII. Procedures with animals that may cause more 
than momentary or minimal pain or distress should 
be performed with appropriate sedation, analge- 
sia, or anaesthesia in accordance with accepted 
veterinary practice. Surgical or other painful pro- 
cedures should not be performed on unanesthe- 
tized animals paralysed by chemical agents. 
VIII. Where waivers are required in relation to the 
provisions of article VII, the decisions should not 
rest solely with the investigators directly con- 
cerned but should be made, with due regard to 
the provisions of articles IV, V, and VI, by a suita- 
bly constituted review body. Such waivers should 
not be made solely for the purposes of teaching 
or demonstration. 
IX. At the end of, or when appropriate during, an 
experiment, animals that would otherwise suf- 
fer severe or chronic pain, distress, discomfort, 
or disablement that cannot be relieved should be 
painlessly killed. 
X. The best possible living conditions should be 
maintained for animals kept for biomedical pur- 
poses. Normally the care of animals should be 
under the supervision of veterinarians having ex- 
perience in laboratory animal science. In any 
case, veterinary care should be available as re- 
quired. 
XI. It is the responsibility of the director of an in- 
stitute or department using animals to ensure 
that investigators and personnel have appropri- 
ate qualifications or experience for conducting 
procedures on animals. Adequate opportunities 
shall be provided for in-service training, includ- 
ing the proper and humane concern for the ani- 
mals under their care. 
Additional special provisions accompany the basic 
principles. These deal with sources of supply of ani- 
mal subjects; transport conditions; housing, including 
space allocation, hygienic standards, and protection 
against vermin; environmental conditions, including 
temperature, humidity, lighting, and social interaction; 
nutrition appropriate to the species; provision of 
veterinary care; and the keeping of records (7). 
The CIOMS statement also urges that the develop- 
ment and use of alternatives be actively encouraged. 
Specifically mentioned are nonbiological methods— 
such as the study of structure -activity relationships or 
