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The fourth annual report of the Transparency Agreement on Animal Research in Spain has shown the continued drive of institutions in 2020 to raise awareness, despite the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Once again the number of institutions in the agreement has increased, up from 140 to 152, and the Spanish agreement continues to be the largest in the world.
In the report (in Spanish) of the COSCE (Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies), prepared by EARA, there was either an improvement in transparency by the signatory institutions, on the results for 2019, or remained they similar:
- More than two thirds of institutions (67%) surveyed said they had worked with the media on stories that reference the use of animals in research, up from 46% of institutions in the last report.
- Despite the pandemic, more than half the organisations (54%) took part in scientific outreach activities and talks at other institutes or schools (41%) and almost two thirds (64%) provided access to their facilities for external visitors to observe their research, at student events, open days, or visits by politicians or by other bodies.
EARA executive director, Kirk Leech, said: “Despite the restrictions of the Covid pandemic, it’s clear from this survey that the Spanish biomedical community has made great efforts to continue to raise awareness about the key role that animal research plays in early drug development and new treatments.
"It was notable that institutions also reported that being more open about their work had made it easier for them to discuss the impact of the pandemic with the media and the public.”
Other results included:
- All 152 signatory institutions confirmed that they have a statement about their use of animals in research on their website - the clearest evidence of their commitment towards openness and transparency.
- 71% have published news on the website of their institution related to research with animals.
Lluis Montoliu, a researcher at the National Center for Biotechnology of the Higher Council for Scientific Research and member of COSCE stated that: “The agreement that we launched from COSCE in 2016 has served as an example to other similar agreements for transparency in animal experimentation that have been launched in other countries later.”
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