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Medication and vaccination

pill by doug88888 of flickr

Most medicines are tested on animals and many contain animal ingredients. We vegans and vegetarians all have to make our own minds up about the medicines we use, by being well informed and listening to all views.

Widely varying opinions exist on the pros and cons of different medications, particularly vaccinations. These lead to different conclusions from different people, with strong views even amongst professionals on each side, even before you get to the animal welfare issues. We will not pretend to know the efficacy and potential side-effects of drugs here.

Being vegan or vegetarian does not mean you automatically doubt the value of any vaccination and western medicine per se, any more than it means you will believe in every alternative that comes along. This is a separate consideration.

Medication with animals in mind

The lives of our kids come before the animals, though most of the time the interests of both can be covered, making veganism a realistic lifestyle choice. However, don't feel guilty if you ever have to put yourself or your kid before the animals. It's a natural reaction in all mammals to protect our young and fight for survival. The most powerful ethic is protecting your own family.

It is not directly within our power to influence the ingredients and testing of any particular medicines. However, this ActiVeg article aims to share ideas on doing what you can to encourage reduction of vivisection.

Medicines that do not contain animal products

The Vegan Society has a list of common medicines that do not currently contain animal products, though they may well have been tested on animals.
The Vegan Society list of contraceptives that do not contain animal products.
For other products, try using the PETA list of animal products that may be used in medicines.

Charities and trusts that promote humane research

The scientific basis for animal research so frequently is questionable. It can't help involving cruelty however kind the laboratory staff try to be, and they may well become inured to animal suffering. It is often debated whether the reaction to a drug in one species is equivalent to that in humans in many cases, and there have been some high profile cases of the devastating consequences such assumption of species equivalence can lead to.

There are alternative effective testing methods, which may even be better at finding cures and remedies. It makes ethical sense to support the scientific investigation of these. See the links at People for Responsible Medicine, as well as our article by Dr Gill Langley. The following organisations investigate humane alternatives to vivisection; with your support and donations they can do more:

Humane Research Trust
Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research
Dr Hadwen Trust
Safer Medicines Campaign (formerly Europeans for Medical Progress)

Being vegan and making decisions about medicines and vaccination

All of us respond to the issues of medicines and vaccination in different ways, and no way is the right way. It is up to you. Injecting a healthy young child can seem particularly alien, so you'll want good reason to do so. Be as informed as you can, including seeing what the practices are in different developed countries with similar health issues, as there is a variety of vaccination practices and ages, as well as variation in medical approval of particular drugs. Please be respectful of the views of others when commenting yourself.

Cults and religious groups may have doctrines about such issues. Veganism is a free-thinking dietary choice made by individuals, so all decisions within it are your own. Feel free to put your family first.

Above all, we can live healthily, and learn about vegan nutrition so helping to reduce stess on the NHS caused by poor lifestyle choices which even we vegans can make. What is certainly known is that two of the biggest contributors to reduction in childhood mortality are good food and healthy living spaces. It's the least we can do for our kids and ourselves; we are lucky to live in a modern and wealthy nation where this is possible for nearly everyone.

Comments

anon on 26th Aug 2011 12:23

I am a vegan and also a qualified homeopath: as long as you make sure that the remedies you buy are on a sucrose base,not a lactose base, the majority of homeopathic first aid remedies are based on plants: watch out for Apis and Sepia and Cantharis, tho'. Homeopathic remedies are not animal tested; in fact the original provings were carried out using human volunteers.

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