AN OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT SCENARIO
According to a global review on the use of animals in biomedical science education, live animals are still used to teach animal physiology, pharmacology, and behaviour, along with computer simulations, models, and videos, all in accordance with a policy that upholds respect for all living things.
It is recognised that this type of training helps biomedical scientists to:(i) cultivate a respect for living things;
(ii) sharpen their ethical sense; and
(iii) Equips them to support the promotion of informed public opinion regarding living things and the environment.
Live animal dissections and experiments are taught at primary and secondary levels in the United States. “The appropriate and humane use of animals in the elementary and secondary classrooms can provide significant educational benefits to the students,” according to the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. “A positive interaction between students and animals in the classroom enhances not only scientific learning but also provides an additional avenue promoting the development and growth of the students’ sense of responsibility and respect for all living things,” the organisation states. Many different fields at universities, such as anatomy, anaesthesiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology, zoology, surgery, neurosurgery, and urology, use animals as teaching aids.
In Europe, animals are used extensively in basic biological science, medicine, veterinary medicine, and dental research and development
However, in India, biology, life sciences, and medical sciences are taught in a completely different manner than in Western countries. The use of animals in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching of zoology and life sciences has ceased since the ban issued in 2014 by the University Grants Commission, a statutory body established by the Indian Union Government and charged with the coordination, determination, and maintenance of higher education standards in India.
The Medical Council of India (MCI), which oversees medical education in the majority of public and private medical institutes, banned animal dissection in undergraduate medical courses in 2014. In a gazette notification (No. MCI-34(41)/2013-Med.∕64022 clause A.1.9), MCI advised using computer-assisted modules to teach Physiology and Pharmacology in the undergraduate curriculum. However, in 2019, the MCI approved animal experiments in postgraduate physiology training as part of its competency-based medical education programme.
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