European science organisations call for science-based discussion on animal free approaches
On 25 May 2023 the European Parliament´s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) will hold a hearing on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘Save cruelty-free cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without animal testing’. The European Commission will adopt a formal response to the Initiative by 25 July 2023. ZonMw, AVIESAN and many other European funding agencies have drafted a joint statement in reaction to this initiative.
Joint statement of European research funders and organisations
In this joint statement, the French National Alliance for Life Sciences and Health (AVIESAN) and the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) call on policy makers in Europe to consider essential aspects from life science research communities in the political discussions on the use of animals for scientific purposes. This statement is supported by many other European research funders and organisations.
The mission of ZonMw
As a research funder of (bio)medical research and health innovation we encourage the development of new animal-free models and the acceptance and implementation of existing animal-free research methods. Where that is not (yet) possible, we focus on the more effective use of results from animal experiments.