JAN Creamer of the National Anti-Vivisection Society is very loud in attacking medical research (Citizen,letters, July 1).

But she is quiet when it comes to telling us what we should use instead of animals to give hope to people with serious illnesses.

We would be interested to hear how she plans to replicate a beating heart, blood system, breathing lungs, central nervous system and the way these function together.

These are just some of the necessities required by medical researchers.

My own ambition is to see a cure or treatment for a rare progressive genetic disorder called Friedreichs ataxia (FA), which appears in early child-hood and confines innocent children to life in a wheelchair.

Of course no-one wants to see animals used in medical research and this is why they are only used where no alternative exists. But alleviating human suffering comes first and, if it were your child's health on the line, you'd feel the same.

It's also interesting that anti-vivisection groups don't even support the use of animals in veterinary medicine, yet every time we give our pet medication it is benefiting from animal testing. So completely opposing animal research is actually detrimental to animal welfare too.

Seriously Ill for Medical Research (SIMR) is a patients' group which supports the use of animals and genetic technology where necessary in medical research. For further information please write to SIMR,PO Box 504, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 5WS. www.simr.org.uk Thomas Bromley, SIMR.