[Ethical principles and guidelines for scientific experiments on animals]

These present guidelines issue from the recognition that human beings, in their need to solve the problems of their existence, cannot dispense with experimentation on animals, while on the other hand the ethical principle of reverence for life lays upon them the charge of protecting animals. They reflect the conviction that scientists, as responsible members of the community should, of their own accord, devise, implement and ensure the observance of the measures necessary to achieve the optimal resolution of this conflict. The Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences and the Swiss Academy of Sciences therefore jointly formulated the following Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Scientific Experiments on Animals, which were adopted at the meetings of their Senates in the spring of 1983 to serve as a code of conduct for all scientists and members of allied professions practising in Switzerland. In 1993, the Ethical Committee of the Academies revised the Ethical Principles and Guidelines in the light of the experience and new knowledge gained in the meantime. This revised edition was approved on May, 7th, 1994 by the Senate of the Swiss Academy of Sciences and on February, 24th, 1995 by the Senate of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences. (The complete English version of the "Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Scientific Experiments on Animals" has been published in ALTA 25, 379-384, 1997.)