Assessment of Responsible Positioning (South Africa)

Is your Animal Ethics Committee registered with the National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC)?

Note: ‘Health research’ on animals (below) means conducting research on animals for human health research benefit (e.g., development of medicines, vaccines or medical devices, using animals to study human diseases, etc.)

Are all of your institutional research animal facilities (including animal labs, aquatic facilities, facilities on farms, clinical facilities, etc.) registered with the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) as veterinary facilities?

Are only persons who are registered with or formally authorised by the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC), allowed to perform any veterinary or para-veterinary procedures on animals?

Does a registered veterinarian personally inspect the health and welfare of the animals in all your research animal facilities at least once per week?

Are scheduled medicines (“drugs”) for use in animals, only prescribed by registered veterinarians in your institution?

Do all persons involved in the institutional animal care and use programme (including the Institutional Official, Animal Ethics Committee members, research managers, principal investigators, researchers, students, veterinary and para-veterinary professionals, facility managers, animal caretakers, etc.), receive regular formal training in all relevant aspects of the SANS 10386:2021?

Has your institutional Animal Ethics Policy, and the Animal Ethics Committee’s Terms of Reference, SOPs and forms, been formally reviewed and approved since release of the updated SANS 10386 in Nov 2021?

Does your institutional Animal Ethics Policy explicitly define who the Institutional Official is, i.e., the senior official who takes ultimate responsibility for the institutional animal care and use programme?

When your Animal Ethics Committee reviews a protocol application, and the discussions about application of the 3Rs and compliance requirements have been concluded, does the committee perform a separate Harm-Benefit Analysis (HBA), where the committee members explicitly consider whether the protocol is ethically justifiable (i.e., whether benefits outweigh harms), and should thus be approved or rejected?

Do all persons involved in the institutional animal care and use programme (including the Institutional Official, Animal Ethics Committee members, research managers, principal investigators, researchers, students, veterinary and para-veterinary professionals, animal facility managers, animal caretakers, etc.), have personal access to a copy of the SANS 10386:2021?

Do all members of your Animal Ethics Committee take part in regular inspections of institutional animal facilities and other animal care and use areas (including study sites, farms, aquaria, aviaries, clinical facilities, etc.)?

Has your Institutional Official (i.e., the senior official who takes ultimate responsibility for the institutional animal care and use programme) explicitly accepted this responsibility, and communicated this clearly to all of the institutional personnel who are involved in the care and use of animals for scientific purposes?

Does your institution have a policy for the governance of research animal facilities and study sites, which clearly defines the different responsibilities of the veterinary and para-veterinary professionals, Animal Ethics Committee, principal investigators, researchers, facility managers, animal caretakers, health and safety officials, and other parties responsible for the maintenance of compliance and minimum standards?

When a research participant’s practical competence is assessed in capturing, handling, restraining, or performing procedures on animals, does the assessor (the evaluator) use an objective semi-quantitative scoring system to determine the degree of competence, i.e., Direct Observation of Procedural Skill (DOPS)?

Does your institution have a formal mental-emotional wellbeing programme for all persons involved in the institutional animal care and use programme, including interventions to address burnout, compassion fatigue and resilience, and routine scheduled discussions with a psychologist?