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Thursday Mar 16, 2006
Drugs testing
I'm sure no one can have missed the current news story about the terrible results of drug tests on six volunteers. It's interesting to see what the reactions have been like from some of the users of TheSite.org's discussion boards.
The thread on drug trials is particularly illuminating, not because it's about the events around the Northwick Park hospital trials, but because it's about people who want the chance to take part in trials for money, regardless of recent events. For example:
There is a company on our campus that does it. I was actually thinking of doing it at one point too, but I decided against it.
and
There is a company in Manchester that always used to advertise round campus
Although this recent study wasn't focused on student trials, much of the discussion here focuses on this element. Now maybe I'm alone in this, but the idea that debt-ridden students are being targeted by drug testing companies doesn't exactly paint a pretty picture of the state of the UK, especially when people in drug trials are lying severely ill in hospital.
In addition, you can't wonder how long it will be before this story is taken up by the pro-animal testing lobby, if any hint comes out that the animal trials of the drugs were restricted in anyway, it's going to be a huge blow for anti-animal testing groups.
Obviously testing is an important part of creating new drugs, but given the way the NHS seems to be going it feels more and more like the poor being asked to trial dangerous drugs, that the rich then benefit from.
Posted by Jim Valentine ( 2:35 PM ) Link to this post Comments[2]Returns on charity investment
Gavyn Davies, former Chief Economist with Goldman Sachs, thinks that there is a lack of hard-headedness about the returns on charitable investment (what non-economists would call donations).
Five years ago he, along with some like-minded friends, founded a charity, New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), to help address the problem and highlight how money can best be spent.
For example, he says, for every £1,000 they get from the Government, the Swansea branch of Age Concern can help the poorest pensioners in the area claim £25,000 of extra benefits - a spectacular return of 2,500% on investment. Yet, with the Government spending only £13.5m on encouraging pensioner's benefit uptake, more than one third of benefits remain unclaimed. Spending more could have a dramatic effect on pensioner poverty.
Measuring the effectiveness of charities is not always straightforward. But, as a survey in The Economist (available without subscription from NPC) points out, major donors, led by the likes of Bill Gates, are increasingly demanding to know in detail what impact their money has.
Many of the new philanthropists are well aware that traditional philanthropy is not sufficiently businesslike. They want to bring about a productivity revolution in the industry by applying the best elements of the for-profit business world they know. That has prompted the industry to adopt (and adapt) some of the jargon familiar from the world of business. Philanthropists now talk about "social investing", "venture philanthropy", "social entrepreneurship" and the "triple bottom line". The new approach to philanthropy is "strategic", "market-conscious", "knowledge-based" and often "high-engagement", and always involves maximising the "leverage" of the donor's money.Posted by Tom Green ( 10:18 AM ) Link to this post Comments[1]
