Date: Sun 24-Oct-1993
Paper Page: 17A
Publication: Sunday Sun
Byline: Anthony Blackman
WHAT STARTED OUT in 1985 as an attempt to bring the local green monkey
population under control has developed into a revenue earner.
From 1991 to 1992 the Barbados Primate Research Centre, sole suppliers of the green monkey, netted about BDS$1.25 million from the sale of the animals used in scientific research by major pharmaceutical companies in England, Canada and the United States.
Primatologist and head of the research centre at Farley Hill, St. Peter, Jean Baulu, told the SUNDAY SUN that even though it may seem, from that figure, that the centre is making huge profits, it is not.
Baulu was quick to note that the primate centre, home to just over 500 adult
and young monkeys, is a non-profit organisation. He said if there is any
profit it is re-injected into the project.
In addition, he said, overheads -- among them housing and feeding the animals, paying staff and maintaining the buildings -- require substantial amounts of cash. Baulu said at present "sales are barely keeping the programme afloat."
Cells from the kidneys of the African Green Monkey have been used to produce polio vaccines since the 1960s. The method gives high yields and allows the vaccine to be available at very low prices.
British Pharmaceutical firm SmithKline Beecham, the world's largest supplier of the polio vaccine, said recently in a release that it was moving toward developing the vaccine without the use of monkeys. But at present they are required by law to use monkeys for safety and quality-control purposes.
In 1991 the research centre earned $700 000 from the sale of green monkeys, mainly to SmithKline Beecham. Last year that figure dropped to $558 600.
Baulu noted that sales of monkeys dropped significantly in 1992 and so far this year. One reason for this, he said, is that pharmaceutical companies have limited the amount of vaccines they produce because of a lack of buyers in cash-strapped countries.
By 1995, however, Baulu expects things to be "swinging" again, since he believes the worldwide recession should be over.
Baulu said the primate centre has cages at 20 locations around the island to "trap monkeys humanely".
However, a large percentage are bred in captivity. He explained that blood samples are taken from each monkey and shipped to the United States to be tested. This determines whether the animal is suitable for use in vaccine production.
Once the animals prove suitable, he said, they are separated from the others and prepared for export.
The primate centre also donates monkeys to zoos and parks worldwide. The centre will be sending 25 monkeys to Indonesia at the end of this month, to help establish a primate centre on an island there. This will allow Indonesia to produce and test their own vaccine, Baulu said.
The centre, established in 1979 at Bathsheba, moved to Farley Hill in 1986 and employees about 30 people. On average they ship 500 green monkeys annually.
The local green monkey population is somewhere between 8 000 and 10 000.