Fahmy Sohair R, Gaafar Khadiga
Zoology Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt.
Philos Ethics Humanit Med. 2016 Apr 9;11:2. doi: 10.1186/s13010-016-0035-3.
Although animal research ethics committees (AREC) are well established in Western countries, this field is weakly developed and its concept is poorly understood in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Our main objective was to introduce the concept and requirements of ethical approaches in dealing with experimental animal in research and teaching in Egypt.
Due to its very recent inception, Cairo University, Faculty of Science IACUC decided to operate in accordance with Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals 8th Edition 2011 (the Guide) since Egypt has not yet compiled its own guide.
Fifty protocols were reviewed in 2013-2014. Only ten protocols were reviewed in 2013, but in 2014, forty protocols were reviewed. In 2013 all protocols were approved and in 2014, number of approvals were 35, the number of deferrals were 4, and one refused protocol. Master's theses (MSc) research protocols constituted the majority of the total reviewed protocols. This is attributed to the decision of the Board of the Faculty of Science, Cairo University in September, 2013 that the approval of the IACUC is mandatory before conducting any research involving animals or theses registration.
The first IACUC was established in the Cairo University, Faculty of Science, since 2012. The challenges encountered by the committee were diverse, such as the absence of laws that control the use of animal models in scientific research, lack of guidelines (protocols for experimental animals in research) and, mandatory ethical approval for any experimental animal research.
尽管动物研究伦理委员会（AREC）在西方国家已得到充分确立，但在中东和北非地区，这一领域发展薄弱，其概念也鲜为人知。
我们的主要目的是在埃及的研究和教学中介绍处理实验动物的伦理方法的概念和要求。
由于开罗大学理学院实验动物管理与使用委员会（IACUC）成立时间较晚，且埃及尚未编纂自己的指南，因此决定按照2011年第8版《实验动物饲养与使用指南》（《指南》）开展工作。
2013 - 2014年共审查了50项方案。2013年只审查了10项方案，但2014年审查了40项方案。2013年所有方案均获批准，2014年批准的方案有35项，延期的有4项，1项方案被拒绝。硕士论文（MSc）研究方案占审查方案总数的大部分。这归因于开罗大学理学院董事会在2013年9月做出的决定，即在进行任何涉及动物的研究或论文注册之前，IACUC的批准是强制性的。
自2012年起，开罗大学理学院成立了首个IACUC。该委员会面临着各种挑战，例如缺乏控制科学研究中动物模型使用的法律、缺乏指南（研究中实验动物的方案）以及任何实验动物研究都需强制进行伦理批准。
