Funding for alternative methods to animal testing
Animal experiments can only be replaced in the long term if high-quality alternative methods are available to research. Developing such alternative methods costs money. Currently, Switzerland invests only a fraction of public funds in the development of alternative methods. Animalfree Research advocates for a level playing field: In the future, the research branch «alternative methods» must be funded at least as strongly as other research fields.
How does Switzerland use public funds for research?
Funding for research projects in biology and medicine is handled by the federal government through the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). In 2018, the SNSF approved over CHF 1.1 billion in funding applications, with around half of the amount going to research projects that involve animal experiments. The SNSF invested the other half in the promotion of careers, programs, infrastructures and science communication.
The 3R Competence Center (3RCC) is currently responsible for promoting alternative research methods. It receives an annual budget of around 3 million Swiss francs from the federal government. From a financial perspective, research into alternative methods to animal experimentation must therefore be regarded as a niche area, which is supported by the federal government only with an extremely small contribution.
Our demand for a level playing field
The legal basis speaks a clear language: Whenever possible, alternative methods should replace animal experiments – this applies to both basic and applied research. However, the public funds available to Switzerland as a research location are distributed in such a way that alternative methods hardly stand a chance. It is high time that animal-free research methods receive equal financial support. To address this issue, Animalfree Research launched a petition in 2020, calling on the Federal Council and Parliament to create the necessary legal basis for the SNSF to launch a program «Alternative Methods to Animal Experiments» and to provide it with substantial funding. In order for the research area «alternative methods» to become a strong research area, at least as much funding should flow into it as into the other areas supported by the SNSF together.
Petition successes in Bern
After the petition with over 13,000 signatures was handed over in February 2021, the political ball started rolling. Although the petition – as is generally the case with petitions – was not followed up, Katja Christ (Green Liberal Party, Basel City) included the core of our demand in a parliamentary initiative. Already in November of the same year, the Science Commission of the National Council approved the initiative, and less than a year later, its sister commission in the Council of States followed suit. Now the way is clear for the drafting of a bill.