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Australia’s peak health advisory body, the National Health and Medical Research Council, has called for a moratorium on any clinical research into animal-to-human whole organ transplants in Australia. JANE HAMMOND Australia’s peak health advisory body, the National Health and Medical Research Council, has called for a moratorium on any clinical research into animal-to-human whole organ transplants in Australia. It followed a report from the council’s working party on xenotransplantation - the transplantation of cells, tissues or organs from one species to another – which included community concerns expressed during two rounds of public consultation. The report said the public had expressed fears that new infectious diseases could be transferred from animals to humans and raised social and ethical concerns about animal welfare. A NHMRC meeting in September ruled that non-human primates should never be considered as source animals for future clinical trials of animal-to-human transplantation. NHMRC working group member Kerry Breen said the council had stopped short of ruling on the related issues of using animal cells and tissues in humans. “The council wanted more time to consider these issues,” he said. “They will be considered at the council’s meeting in mid-December.” AVA veterinary director Kevin Doyle said the association was keeping a watching brief on the issue but had yet to formulate a xenotransplantation policy. “The AVA has not put forward a formal view, but having examined a lot of the material, I can understand the basis for the moratorium,” he said. “It will give a bit of time to work through a number of issues on infection and a few other ethical questions. “The AVA has been observing what has been happening rather than providing input or coming to a formal view on the matter.” Anti-vivisection lobby group, Australian Association for Humane Research, welcomed the call for a moratorium but said the NHMRC’s recommendations did not go far enough. Administrator Carlie Martin said transplanting animal tissues and cells into humans was as scientifically erroneous and unethical as whole organ transplants. “The issue of xenotransplantation is much more than whole organ transplantation,” she said. “The use of animal cells and tissues in humans was not covered by the moratorium and may still go ahead.” Ms Martin said Australia should follow New Zealand and the Cook Islands and reject all forms of xenotransplantation. |
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