Reacción a "Spanish centres make progress in transparency in animal experimentation, according to COSCE report"

‘The ‘Transparency Agreement on the Use of Animals in Scientific Experimentation in Spain’ proposed by the Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies (COSCE) in 2016 and to which -to date- 168 institutions have adhered was a milestone in the scientific community and in its communication with society, and is now a global benchmark for its acceptance and monitoring. Since then, COSCE has issued annual reports to assess the fulfilment of its fundamental objective, which is none other than to promote greater understanding by society of the benefits, harms and limitations associated with animal experimentation.

The key commitments of the COSCE Agreement are:

1. To be transparent about when, how and why animals are used in research.
2. Improve communication with the media and society.
3. Be proactive in promoting events to raise public awareness of animal research.
4. Report annually on activities carried out and share them.

The 2024 report contains the results of a survey of member institutions and details the actions carried out to advance in the fulfilment of these four commitments. More than 90% of the institutions surveyed responded to the survey, and it is noted that all of them have an institutional statement on their policy and conditions on the use of animals in research available on their website and are carrying out activities to promote transparency, including general public and media access to the facilities. However, the Agreement still has some way to go, both in terms of including institutions that have not yet signed up, and in terms of implementing actions to fully comply with it, as 10% state that they do not have sufficient support’.

What would you highlight from the report?

‘It is a very exhaustive report that collects data from a survey of more than 150 scientific institutions of different categories and distributed throughout the country, which makes it a global benchmark.

The report confirms the upward trend in the policies, initiatives and activities developed by the member institutions since the signing of the Agreement in 2016’.

Does it have any notable limitations?

‘Although the COSCE Agreement is exceptional in terms of the number of member institutions it brings together, its growth must continue to be promoted in order to include all of them, including private companies, so that all agents carrying out activities with experimental animals in our country are committed to complying with the four points. In addition, it is necessary to consider the diversity of signatory institutions and the limitations of some of them to implement transparency actions, promoting the sharing of resources and experiences among all of them’.