The\nFlemish Ethics Committees on Animal Testing play a central role in the\nprotection of laboratory animals in Flanders. These ethics committees are\nresponsible for the assessment of research projects involving laboratory\nanimals. In 2020, the Flemish government commissioned Technopolis Group to\ndevelop an evaluation tool to evaluate the functioning of the ethics\ncommittees. In addition, the evaluation tool was applied to the 18 Flemish\nethics committees as a baseline measurement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laboratory\nanimals are used in scientific research to gain knowledge on the human and\nanimal body and its function in health and disease, for the development and\nproduction of medicines and vaccines, and to gain practical experience in the\ntreatment of humans or animals. The use of laboratory animals in research is a\nsensitive topic. Not only should the welfare of laboratory animals be properly\nensured, but it is also of importance that continuous attention is paid to the\nrelevance of animal experiments in view of rapid developments of 3R\nalternatives (replacement, reduction and refinement). <\/p>\n\n\n\n