The Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA) has informed the stakeholders that the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAECs) should not make it mandatory to call the Principal Investigator (PI) in research projects for presentation in each meeting.
The communication comes after the CCSEA noticed that presentation of research protocols by the PI has been made mandatory by the nominees of the IAECs.
"In case there is no information/query to be sought, the PIs may not be invited for presentation and the decision may be taken as per the information provided in the respective research protocols. The presentation by the PI before the IAEC should not be made mandatory in each IAEC meeting," it stated.
The Committee has earlier communicated the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the IAECs, based on which the research proposals should be sent to the IAEC members at least 15 days in advance by the respective establishment so that the members may examine the proposals for their necessary inputs well on time. This will also help them to seek necessary queries, as the case may be, from the respective PIs.
The PIs may be called for presentation only in case the response of the query is not satisfactory, it added.
The objective of the SOP is to contribute to the effective functioning of the IAEC so that a quality and consistent ethical review mechanism for research on animals is put in place for all proposals dealt by the Committee as prescribed by the relevant rules and regulations.
According to the CCSEA's SOP, the IAEC should focus mainly on ensuring ethical and methodical handling of animals during and after experiments, so that they have less suffering.
IAEC's function is to review and approve all types of protocols for research involving small animal experimentation before the start of the study. For approval of experimentation on large animals, the case is required to be forwarded to CPCSEA in prescribed manner with recommendation of IAEC, says CCSEA's compendium released in the year 2018.
IAEC is required to monitor the research throughout the study and after completion of study, IAEC shall obtain the periodic reports on research development and shall ensure visit to animal house facility and laboratory where the experiments are conducted. The committee has to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements, applicable rules, guidelines and laws.
|