National Centre for the 3Rs |
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News and status reports on the NC3RsMarch 2005: Report on Stakeholder Forum for NC3RsThe NC3Rs held a stakeholder forum in January 2005 and they have produced a brief report of the proceedings. (Check here.) Discussions seem to have centred on budgets (acquisition and distribution thereof) and on the importance of networking - both rather obviously necessary. Some thought was also given to ways of measuring the success of the 3Rs research but little seems to have emerged from this. While it is true, as the brief report suggests, that some things that NC3Rs does cannot be measured, that shouldn't discourage them from measuring what can. December 2004: Naturewatch visits NC3RsWe were impressed with the vision of NC3Rs but retain some reservations. Check here for a full report. October 2004: NC3Rs begins operationThe new National Centre for the 3Rs has begun its operations. They have announced the membership of their 16-person board which, perhaps not unexpectedly, is rather heavily weighted towards those actively participating in animal experimentation. Fortunately the board also includes Dr. Maggy Jennings of the RSPCA and Dr. James Kirkwood of UFAW. They have also announced their first funding plans. This comes in two parts. The first is a call for proposals for research projects for 2005 onwards, for which they have an annual budget of £500k. They have also announced two other projects which they are funding with immediate effect. Of these, the first - to Dr. Christine Nicol of the University of Bristol - is focussed on the welfare of genetically modified animals and determining ways of monitoring their welfare; the second - to Dr. John Roughan of the University of Newcastle - will research ways of evaluating pain in rodents involved in cancer research and how to alleviate and avoid it. For further details, see the new NC3Rs web-site. July 2004: Government announces timescaleThe Government have just announced the timescale for the upcoming Centre for the 3Rs. We asked Mike Hancock, a Liberal Democrat MP who is one of Naturewatch's supporters in Parliament, to table a Parliamentary question to elicit the details of when the Centre would come into operation. We are pleased that the Government has been forthcoming about these details, and that the Centre will be coming into operation in September, and that the funding promised for it will be made available from that point.
Naturewatch welcomes National Centre for the 3RsText of our press release:"The Government’s announcement of a National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, focussing on developing alternatives to animal use in experiments, was welcomed by Cheltenham-based animal welfare group Naturewatch. "Campaign manager Richard Tweedy said, ‘We are pleased that the proposed centre has a wide remit. There is a clear need not just to look for alternatives, but to spot emerging technologies which could lead to substantial reductions in the use of animals. The proposals for the centre look likely to achieve that.’ "The idea for the Centre came from a report by a House of Lords Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures, which was published in July 2002. It was one of 31 conclusions and recommendations, and quickly attracted attention because of its potential to make a positive difference. "Naturewatch campaigned for the report’s implementation, and promoted an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons, which attracted the signatures of 229 MPs from all parties. Naturewatch also met with the Home Office minister Caroline Flint in December 2003 in order to discuss the proposals." [ends] 
Why this Centre is good newsAt Naturewatch we recognise that animal experiments are not going to end tomorrow, much as we would like them to. The reality is that important progress on this issue will only be achieved if it can be combined with confidence that quality science will still be delivered. This is why the National Centre for the 3Rs is so important. Indications earlier in the year were that the Centre would only be focussed on toxicology; we are pleased that this is not now the case, and that it has been given a much broader remit. In particular we welcome the strategic role that the Centre will have: this is precisely the role which Naturewatch was advocating when we visited the Home Office in December 2003. ( An example of how this would work). We will continue to criticise the Government where we think it is appropriate. For example, we will continue to press for a ban on procedures which cause brain-damage in primates. However, we will certainly congratulate the Government when it is deserved. We believe that now is such an occasion. ReferencesReport by the Inter-Departmental Group for the 3Rs. |
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