The Basel Declaration is a call for greater transparency and communication on the use of animals in research. It is supported by an international scientific non profit society, the Basel Declaration Society, a forum of scientists established to foster the greatest dissemination and acceptance of the Declaration, and the dialogue with the public and stakeholders.
Summary
The Declaration was issued on 30 November 2010 by over 60 scientists from Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Sweden. The signatories commit to accepting greater responsibility in animal experiments and to intensive cooperation with the public in the form of a dialogue with prejudice. At the same time, they demand that essential animal experiments for obtaining research results remain permitted both now and in the future. With their Basel Declaration, researchers are seeking to achieve a more impartial approach to scientific issues by the public and a more trusting and reliable cooperation with national and international decision makers.
The signatories to the Basel Declaration are actively seeking to show that science and animal welfare are not diametrically opposed and to make a constructive contribution to the dialogue taking place in society – for example in the incorporation of the new EU Directive of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes into the national laws.[1] (The revised EU Directive provides for the use of fewer laboratory animals for scientific purposes in the future and better reconciles the needs of research with the protection of animals without making research more difficult. The EU Member States must incorporate the Directive into national law within two years and apply these national regulations as from January 2013.)
Alternatives to animal experiments
“Animal experiments will remain necessary in biomedical research for the foreseeable future, but we are constantly working to refine the methods with animal welfare in mind.”[2] The signatories to the Declaration commit, amongst other things, to the use of animal experiments only when the research concerns fundamentally important knowledge and no alternative methods are available. As part of this commitment, their two-day conference in November 2010 ended with an affirmation of their allegiance to the 3R principle “Reduction, Refinement, Replacement”:
The 3R principle (replace, reduce, refine) has its origins with William M. S. Russell & Rex L. Burch, who published their “Principles of Humane Experimental Technique” in 1959. These principles are regarded internationally as the guideline for avoiding or reducing animal experiments and the suffering of laboratory animals:
Replacement: replacement of animal experiments by methods that do not involve animals Reduction: reduction in the number of animals in unavoidable animal experiments Refinement: improvement in experimental procedures, so that unavoidable animal experiments
Need for improved communication
The participants in the symposium that adopted the Basel Declaration were unanimously agreed that science must not only take a clear stand with regard to the responsible handling of laboratory animals, but also has to show greater transparency toward the public.[3] To make their motivation and methods more comprehensible to the public and the decision makers, the researchers aim to cooperate more closely with politicians, the media and schools in the future and to give greater importance to the communication of science.