The National Medical Association is the largest and oldest national organization for African American physicians and the patients they serve in the United States. We represent the interests of more than 50,000 African American physicians, and we are the leading force for parity and justice in medicine and the elimination of disparities in health. The National Medical Association does not conduct, fund, or commission tests on animals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites the following health disparities faced by our community: African Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV; African American men are at greater risk of having a stroke than any other group of men in the United States; during their lifetime half of all non-Hispanic black women are predicted to develop diabetes; and, among people ages 65 and older, African Americans have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the country. Unfortunately, animal tests are still used to study these and other human disease areas despite very poor translatability or applicability to human health, which hinders medical progress and wastes limited resources.
The National Medical Association strongly supports the vision and plan articulated in PETA’s ‘Research Modernization Deal’ that offers a step-wise guide to eliminate misguided experiments on animals and instead prioritize more effective, ethical and economical non-animal research methods that will better advance human medical research for all.”
— Yolanda Lawson, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Chair, Board of Trustees, National Medical Association
