Public urged to sign up to medical trials

Published on Tuesday 26 August 2008 10:34

LEADING figures from Edinburgh University have joined a campaign to encourage members of the public to offer themselves up for random health checks.

The Get Randomised campaign, which will also involve a widespread television drive, wants to boost public awareness of the importance of clinical trials.

Clinical trials are seen by many in the medical profession as the best way to find new treatments, although there are often problems in recruiting sufficient numbers to participate.

The more people who take part in tests, the easier it is for medics to compare a range of treatments and reactions.

Stuart Ralston, ARC Professor of Rheumatology at Edinburgh University, said: "Information from randomised trials is critical in allowing doctors to select the right treatment; and we hope the campaign will raise awareness of this."

Prof Tom MacDonald, another key figure in the campaign, added: "Doctors decide how to treat patients based on evidence from clinical trials.

"Random allocation of different treatments within the context of a research study is the best way to establish robust evidence as to how best to treat patients."