Increasing openness on animal researchJanuary 20, 2003RDS issued the following statement today, 20 January, on the Government's response to the House of Lords Committee report on Animals in Scientific Procedures Dr Mark Matfield, Director of RDS, said, "We support the proposal to publish information about all new project licences. This will make animal research in the UK more open and transparent than anywhere else in the world. This can only be a good thing and should go a long way to show the public that we only use animals for important medical research and development, and that these animals are used ethically and humanely." "This will be an important and far-sighted step for UK medical researchers. Clearly, the lack of openness surrounding animal research in the UK has led the public to assume that we have something to hide. Now they will be able to see that is not the case." "The published information about project licences will be anonymous, to protect researchers from animal rights extremists, and commercially confidential information will also be safeguarded." "The idea of publishing information about every animal research project has been under discussion for some time between the main science and industry organisations and the government. The role of RDS is to inform the public about why animals are used in medical research and the high animal welfare standards we work to. This increase in openness will help our work in this area and is clearly in line with our objectives." "We support the House of Lords proposal for a centre to promote more work on all three R's (Replacing, Reducing and Refining animal experimentation). It is important that any new initiative in this area is designed to work alongside the considerable amount that is already being done. The pharmaceutical industry estimates that it spends over £300 million a year developing and using non-animal methods of experimentation. The government also puts substantial funding into non-animal research. Just how a new centre might be structured is not yet clear. There will need to be careful consultation and a detailed examination of the options to ensure that this is set up to work effectively." | |||||||||||||||||||||
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