Animal facility in Maulana Azad college not ready yet

A facility to keep animals for research and experiment at Maulana Azad Medical College has been shut for several months. This has created problems for those engaged in drug research.

Students are also unable to proceed with their studies as not many animals are available for dissection.

A team of officials from the Animal Welfare Board and the government’s ethics committee visited the college last December. They found some irregularities in the functioning of the facility.

According to the committee, norms on maintaining proper cages for animals and sanitation were violated. The committee found algae in the cages and animals were kept in unhygienic conditions as well.

Then it had asked the college authorities to stop all activities at the facility and renovate it within three months. But it has been over five months and the building is yet to start functioning again.

The facility, which comes under the pharmacology department, caters to the needs of the department’s researchers who conduct drug trials before being certified for human consumption.

MBBS and MD students also use the animals for dissection as part of their professional courses.

Currently, only a few rats are available in the facility, far less than the requirement of the college, to which hospitals such as GB Pant and Lok Nayak are also attached. “The issue is not just renovation but shortage of staff too. There is nobody to manage the entire facility,” said a faculty member of the pharmacology department.

“The facility is under renovation and such a project takes time,” said Dr A K Aggarwal, dean of the college.