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| Study participants get up to £100 in Europe |
Often times when introducing new studies and during other community engagement activities, potential participants look forward to hear benefits which the discussed new study will bring to them; both individual benefits, community benefits, short term and long term benefits.
With a lot of Community Engagement (CE) activities done in areas where research is done, communities are now well aware of their rights, they understand that researchers need to seek their consent for their voluntary participation, they know about compensation and benefits attached to it, they know that they have a right to exist the study at any point of their choice. Currently studies provide different incentives in form of money ranging from K1,000 (£1)
to K5,000, (£5 recently it has been increased to K7,500 (£7.5). Other studies give participants
materials which are dependent on the design of the study, these may include; groceries, nappies, basins etc. however it is not yet clear how or which these benefits are relevant to the local context here in Malawi. There's need to do research about compensation and benefits now that more communities are demanding benefits for participating in studies. Ethics Committees in Malawi do not have clear guidelines as to how much participants should be compensated, of late it is reported that each participant should be given not more than £7.5, i am yet to explore if this amount is for any study in Malawi in the country.
There's a huge margin if we're to contrast research compensation between Malawi and other European countries. Participants in Europe are compensated up to £100 in clinical trials, an amount which can not be provided here in Malawi apart from a maximum of £5 which is observed in studies, such might be the case with other studies in other African countries. One obvious factor leading to this margin could be a difference in economy of the countries however there are a number of issues to look at this currently state and practice between Malawi and European countries;
- Having small amount to compensate participants work to the researchers' advantage in a way that they don't spend more on their budget but we know that it's one way of taking advantage of the low class people, especially those residing in areas away from urban areas and appreciate a compensation as small as £2. We know how difficult the economy is at present, one would easily accept to participate to gain the mentioned amount.
- In Europe study adverts with a compensation amount are pasted in public places, inviting people to participate. the practice is different here in Malawi; researchers emphasize voluntary participation the moment they're asked to share the benefits which their studies plan to offer its participant.They also emphasize the benefits their study will to a community at large, one statement i have heard several times is, "the committee approving studies at College of medicine doesn't allow us to provide more money than what we've mentioned". i have always thought about the truth of the statement. If participants are given £100 in UK, isn't there any chance we can compensate our participants better here in Malawi? One will argue that if researcher increase compensation then more people will decide to participate, eventually defeating participants' autonomy. that might be true but how do they manage it in UK? we can learn from their experiences and improve practice here in Malawi. my next article will focus on why more studies are conducted here in Sub Saharan Africa like Malawi than in European countries and also why it is important to compensate participants in research here in Malawi. These are my opinions, independent from any research institution's practice in Malawi.
