TO mark International Primate Day (Sept 1), I sponsored a European Parliament Declaration, calling for an EU-wide ban on the use of non-human primates in animal experimentation.

With the EU's regulations on animal research under review, there is the real prospect of a primate research ban Such a ban would end the suffering of thousands of primates.

It would end the cruel, wasteful and outdated reliance on animal experiments - a reliance which is only hindering the development of 21st century alternatives and holding back real medical progress.

Around 10,000 non-human primates are used every year for scientific experiments in the EU and over 2,700 of these were conducted in the UK.

The similarities between human and non-human primates - some have 98 per cent human DNA - mean scientists have favoured their use in animal-based research.

But it is precisely these similarities that make their suffering so severe and their use as tools for research so unjustifiable.

Non-human primates are not similar enough to humans to provide reliable scientific data, primarily because they do not suffer from the same diseases as we do.

Instead, researchers artificially induce similar conditions such as brain-damaging monkeys so they exhibit the tremors of Parkinson's disease.

This is very different from studying a naturally occurring disease in a human patient.

Tellingly, after decades of research on primates, scientists have failed to make significant breakthroughs in treating HIV or AIDS, Alzheimer's Disease, or cancer - all human conditions which have been thoroughly and pointlessly explored through primate research.

Many alternative techniques exist, but their use and further development requires investment and a commitment to innovation.

Just like us, primates also have social and emotional needs, which cannot be met by confinement in laboratories.

They are harmed not only by the pain of scientific procedures, but by the frustration and fear of the laboratory.

I urge you to write to my North West parliamentary colleagues and ask them to support this important campaign. My Mate's a Primate. I hope yours is too.

SAJJAD KARIM MEP.