PRS/RT(2010)4/1CONF
PROJECT REPORT SUMMARY
Project nr: / RT(2010)4Subject: / Meeting of the Directors General (DGs) of the Dutch Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Environment, and Education &b Science to discuss alternative approaches to animal testing: a strategy for the next 10-20 years.
Offered to (ZT):
Sponsored by (RT):
Contracted by (FT): / The Executive Agency of the Ministry of Health (ZonMw) has requested the managing director of OHP as senior advisor to the meeting. The reduced tariff (50%) will apply.
Start and end-dates and venue: / 12 April 2010, Ministry of Health, The Hague, the Netherlands
Experts involved: / · Ms A.M. Burger, DG, Ministry of Agriculture,
· Mr R. Roborgh, DG, Ministry of Science,
· Mr P. Huijts, DG, Ministry of Health,
· Mr H. Smid, Director of ZonMw,
· A representative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs,
· A representative of the Ministry of Environment,
· Herman Koëter, OHP, Belgium
Background and Objectives: / Financial support for scientific projects aiming at the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal testing (the 3Rs) is coordinated by the Ministry of Health. About 2 years ago the Parliament requested for a strategic document outlining current activities and providing a future outlook. Subsequently, the government requested the MoH to (i) undertake both a scientific and a societal trend analysis on the public acceptance of animal testing, (ii) requested for a strategic document, including suggestions for priority activities, and (iii) give high priority to the ASAT concept (assuring safety without animal testing). The latter is considered a controversial concept in the Dutch scientific community.
The role of the advisor is to explain the current state of the art in life sciences with reapect to the use of experimental animals and provide advice on what may be the most appropriate and politically appealing option to address animal testing in the Netherlands, taking into account activities and initiatives elsewhere in the EU and globally.
Meetings and Missions: / Two preparatory meetings (as teleconferences) were held with the director and technical staff of ZonMw (the executive agency of the MoH) and with a scientific writer/journalist (who was requested to draft a short paper intended to be understood by politicians and lay-persons on the subject as an introduction to the discussion.
The meeting itself took place on Monday 12 April at the Ministry of Health in The Hague, Netherlands.
Main Topics and observations: / The meeting was chaired by the DG of the MoH. HK was given the floor to explain the state-of-the-art of scientific progress on the animal welfare front. From the discussion that followed it ewwas rather obvious that the Ministries of Environment and Economic affairs do not give a high priority to the 3Rs of experimental animals. The others do but fear that not much attention (and funding) will be given to the subject by the new government. It was agreed that an outline of a business plan should be drafted (by the MoH and ZonMw) highlighting a few focus areas (genomics, vaccine development and control, and maybe one more subject). It was also agreed that the business plan should put emphasis on bringing research relevant to the replacement of experimental animals together thus allowing for cross-breeding and systems biology approaches. The suggestion of HK to no longer refer to “alternatives to animal testing” but instead to: “more knowledge with less experimental animals” (in Dutch: “meer kennis met minder proefdieren”). The outline (probably with some attachments) will be discussed within the 5 ministries and ZonMw before the Summer and based on the outcome the business plan will be drafted and presented, together with a financial account, to the new government.
Documentation (not publicly available, as these are personal notes ) / Speaking Notes (in Dutch)
Date: / 13 April 2010
Signature: / Herman B.W.M.Koëter
Kampendaal 83, B-1653 Dworp (Brussels) Belgium ● email: ● tel: +32.23045903