Ethics Committee in the Nigerian System Simeon I. B. Cadmus (DVM., - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Challenges and Realities of Setting up and Administering Animal Care and Use Research Ethics Committee in the Nigerian System

Simeon I. B. Cadmus (DVM., Ph.D.) Professor of Veterinary Public Health Chairman-Animal Care and Use Research Ethics Committee, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

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OVERVIEW

 Food for thought  Responsible officials  Animal welfare  Administrative challenges-To be discussed during the presentation  Realities -To be discussed during the presentation  Moving forward

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YOUR WORD IS YOUR BOND-Frank Sonnenberg

 “There was a time when keeping your word held special significance. We took great pride in being

• f

good character. Personal integrity was both expected and

• valued. That was a time when everyone knew each other’s

family, and you wouldn’t do anything that would cast a shadow on your family’s good name. It was a time when integrity was instilled in children at a very early age and was viewed as instrumental in achieving success. The truth is, our world may have changed, but the importance of integrity has not. Your word is your bond. While we may not know everyone in our own town, the world is still smaller than you

• think. Create some bad news and you’ll learn this for

yourself.”

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Impacts of our bad academic/research conducts and activities

 This may lead to our being blacklisted and thus affect us socioeconomically and psychologically  May negatively impact on funding

• pportunities for our

research/academic endeavors  It will have reverberating negative effects on our academic institutions  May impact on our families and friends  May also affect the environment where we work  Ultimately affect our communities and country depending on the enormity of the problems caused

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BODY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANIMAL WELFARE

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Animal Care and Use Research Ethics Committee (ACUREC)-University of Ibadan

 The University of Ibadan, in order to expand the frontiers

• f knowledge through provision of excellent condition

for learning and research and in line with global best practices in research involving the use of laboratory animals in biomedical science,  established the ‘Animal Care and Use Research Ethics Committee’  on Friday 16 January, 2015.

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ANIMAL WELFARE

 Animal welfare is a human responsibility that encompasses all aspects of animal well being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling, and, when necessary, humane euthanasia...”

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COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITEE

 A Veterinarian who is certified in laboratory animal medicine  At least one Practicing Scientist who is experienced with research and training involving animals  At least one Legal Practitioner who is experienced with legal issues involving animals  At least one member of the public (layman) to represent general community interests in the proper care and use of animals

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KEY MEMBERS NEEDED FOR EFFECTIVENESS

 Veterinarian  Other scientists from related backgrounds should include people from these various fields:  Physiology/Biochemistry  Pharmacy/Pharmacology  Animal Science/Wildlife/Fisheries  Medicine  Statistics  Microbiology/Virology

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MISSION

To provide a platform geared towards educating the scientific community on global best practices as it concerns humane handling and use of laboratory/experimental animals for research purposes.

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VISION

To achieve optimal environment for conducting experimental research involving laboratory animals with globally acceptable standards that is ultimately directed towards the wholesome benefit of animals, the research community and the society at large.

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Key responsibilities

 The Committee is saddled with the responsibility of providing oversight and assistance in ensuring compliance to all laws, regulations and policies governing the care and use of animals for research, teaching and testing.

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Organizations that require “Institutional Ethics Committee”

 Every institution carrying out animal based research  All institutions engaged in using animals for teaching/training  Institutions interested in advancing novel drug discoveries  Institutions that need external/foreign funding to advance research/innovations

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JUSTIFICATION OF ANIMAL USE IN RESEARCH

A

 There should be a clear scientific purpose and reasonable expectation that the research will:  increase knowledge of the process underlying the evolution, development, maintenance, alteration, control, or biological significance of behavior.  determine the replicability and generality of prior research.  increase understanding of the species under study.  provide results that benefit the health or welfare of humans or

• ther animals.

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Justification Continues

 B. The scientific purpose of the research should be of sufficient potential significance to justify the use of nonhuman animals.  C. In proposing a research project, the researcher should be familiar with the appropriate literature, consider the possibility of non-animal alternatives, and use procedures that minimize the number of animals in research (This is very important!!!!).

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ANIMAL WELFARE (ENVIRONMENT, HOUSING AND MANAGEMENT)

 Appropriate housing and management of animal facilities are very important to animal well-being; just as the quality of research data and teaching or testing programmes for which the animals are to be subjected to in relation to the health and safety of the personnel.  Therefore, a good management programme provides for animal well-being and minimizes variations that can affect research results.

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The species, strain, and breed of the animal and individual characteristics, such as sex, age, size, behaviour, experiences, and health.

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Factors to be be considered in planning for adequate physical & social environment, housing, space management

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The ability of the animals to form social groups with co-specifics through sight, smell and possibly contact, whether the animals are maintained singly or in groups.

The design and construction of housing.

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The availability or suitability of enrichments and nutrients.

The project goals and experimental design (e.g. production, breeding, research, testing, and teaching).

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The intensity of animal manipulation and invasiveness of the procedures to be conducted.

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The presence of hazardous or disease-causing materials

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The duration of the holding period.

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ULTIMATE GOAL

 Animals should be housed with the goal of maximising species- specific behaviours and minimising stress-induced behaviours.  Thus, the environment should be appropriate to the species, its life history, and its intended use.

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SOME BASIC REFLECTIONS ABOUT ANIMALS

The alternatives: The “Three R” tenet of Russell and Burch (1959) (The Holy Grail of Ethics in Animal Research)

 Replacement

 Substitution of other models for animals (or substitution of a less sentient species with a more sentient one)  Can the hypothesis be tested or the training be done with cell cultures, computer simulations, or other non-animal system?

 Reduction  What is the minimum number of animals that can still yield statistically valid

• utcomes?

 Can you work with a statistician to determine this?  Refinement  What efforts are being made to eliminate or minimize animal pain and distress?  Anesthesia, analgesia and alternate experimental design must be considered

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Animal Freedom

Freedom from hunger and thirst Freedom from pain and injury

• r disease

Freedom from discomfort Freedom from fear and distress Freedom to express normal behavior FREEDOM OF ANIMAL

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Inhumane Practices

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PREVENTION OF PAIN

 In studies that require the animal to reach a moribund state or die spontaneously as the endpoint of the study, the earliest endpoint possible should be used to prevent pain or distress  Ensuring that drug doses are correct and that the drugs used are not expired  Ensuring that procedures to be performed on the animals are reasonable for that species  Using appropriate anesthetics and analgesics for potentially painful procedures

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Performing surgeries and procedures aseptically to prevent infection Performing only a single major survival surgery on any one animal, whenever possible Performing appropriate post-surgical care, including thermoregulation and fluid balance

CHALLENGES TO BE DISCUSSED IN RELATION TO ANIMAL CARE AND USE IN RESEARCH CONDUCTS

 Institutional Apathy  Available Institutional infrastructure  Quality of Research  Competence of Reviewers  Reviewers’ Apathy

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ALTERNATIVES TO USE OF ANIMALS Computer Model software

Computer Aided Drug Design (CADD) is used to predict the receptor binding site for a potential drug molecule. CADD works to identify probable binding site and hence avoids testing of unwanted chemicals having no biological activity. Structure Activity Relationship (SARs) computer programs. It predicts biological activity of a drug candidate based on the presence of chemical moieties attached to the parent compound.

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Use of in vitro cell and tissue cultures which involves growth of cells outside the body in laboratory environment can be an important alternative for animal experiments.

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Cell and Tissue Culture

ALTERNATIVE ORGANISMS

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 Prokaryotes Escherichia coli Bacillus subtilis Caulobacter crescentus  Fungi Neurospora crassa Saccharomyces cerevisiae Aspergillis nidulans For molecular and genetic studies Cellular differentiation

Amphimedon queenslandica Aplysia sp./sea slug Caenorhabditis elegans Drosophila melanogaster Hydra/Cnidaria Studies on evolution, neurobiology and comparative genomics

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Invertebrate Organisms

REALITIES TO CONTEND WITH IN ADMINISTERING ANIMAL CARE USE AND RESEARCH IN INSTITUTIONS

 Culture/Ethos-Respecting Elders  Circumventing the System  Ability to Follow-Up on Researches Carried Out  Reviewers Asking for Compensation  To What Extent Can You Apply Penalties/Sanctions  Conflict of Interest-(Decisions on Close Friends/Colleagues)

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THE CONSCIENCE

Is Our Word Our Bond??? As Theodore Roosevelt said, “I care not what others think

• f what I do, but I care very much about what I think of

what I do! That is character!” Therefore, we must have inbuilt in our research, integrity!

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APPRECIATION

 Members of the IACUC  UI-ACUREC  Vice-Chancellor Igbinedion University and Management  Professor Peter Aziba  Audience

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