Proposal to support methodological and scientific renewal and alternative methods to animal experimentation in basic, applied and regulatory research, in order to reduce the number of animals used in scientific experimentation.
On the twentieth anniversary of the Institution, the Ethics Committee of the Emilia Romagna Region (L.R. 1 August 2002 n.20 and subsequent amendments) organized a cultural and scientific event on the theme of animal experimentation, aimed at and permitted for the Protection of Health, the Environment and Animals, to analyze the impact and consequences of current legislation, examining the more strictly ethical, scientific and methodological aspects, for a transition to research methods that do not involve the use of animals.
In the context of the event, the "Round Table: The state of the art of alternative methods to animal experimentation in Italy" was organized, attended by representatives of the Ministry of Health, Farmindustria, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, the 3R Center , of the Italian Platform for Alternative Methods, of the National Reference Center for Alternative Methods, of the Working Group on Alternative Methods within the National Committee for the Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes and of the LAV (Anti-Vivisection League).
The comparison revealed that, both for infrastructural, political and cultural reasons, alternative methods to animal testing (replacement methods) are not yet adequately available, considered and used. Hence the urgent need for the issue to be strongly revitalized and brought to the attention of politicians in order to define new strategies and actions aimed at achieving the legislative objectives in the field of animal protection and the transition towards replacement methods. In particular, this theme has strong ethical, economic, health, sustainability implications of preclinical research, training, also in consideration of the international competitive context and, last but not least, the urgent renewal of those still obsolete and inertial experimental methodologies.
Highlights that emerged from the debate for a discussion proposal are:
1 Dissemination of ethical principles and new training guidelines to all the actors involved
2 In-depth study and dissemination of innovative criteria towards an alternative experimental methodology
3 Innovation of the experimental research funding criterion dedicated to the identification of new alternative methods and their consistent application, aimed at the objectives of the experimental protocols (contextualizing Objective, Method, Result) by establishing precise percentage funding quotas on existing projects.
4 Implementation of the 3R principle (with particular reference to replacement) in the context of the technical-scientific assessment procedure pursuant to article 31 of Legislative Decree no. 26/14.
5 Modification of the reporting system of experimental projects with rewards for effective reduction strategies.
It was agreed to give the document the widest circulation and in particular to the competent institutions, in which, it is hoped, a debate and an adequate, coherent, in-depth analysis can be started in the interest of scientific research, social and public health issues , respect for the Constitution and animal protection laws, and above all for the country's technological and competitive innovation capabilities.
