Tag

Guinea Bissau

All articles tagged with #guinea bissau

global-health13 hours ago•5 min saved

Mpox reemerges in Guinea-Bissau as outbreaks reach new shores

Mpox has surfaced in Guinea-Bissau for the first time, reflecting the disease’s spread to more countries since 2022. Two mpox clades exist, with a 2024 Clade I–related surge in the DRC prompting a WHO public health emergency of international concern; vaccines are available but access remains unequal, and a new global stockpile is planned. While the antiviral tecovirimat showed limited benefit for clade I, strong supportive care and robust public health measures—surveillance, testing, and contact tracing—are essential for containment. In Guinea-Bissau, many suspected cases are children, raising concerns about risk to young kids and the need for rapid containment, though data may be biased by healthcare-seeking patterns.

via The Guardian|

#global-health #guinea-bissau #mpox

health2 days ago•2 min saved

Children bear the brunt as mpox spreads in Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau declared a national mpox outbreak in July, with seven confirmed and 46 suspected cases; more than half are children, including 16 under four, prompting UNICEF to warn that fragile health surveillance may hide ongoing transmission, while authorities and partners push door-to-door awareness and bolster frontline capacity amid broader infrastructure and political challenges; no deaths have been reported yet.

via The Guardian|

#guinea-bissau #health #mpox

health3 months ago•16 min saved

Danish Vaccine Theories Step Into the RFK Jr. Policy Spotlight

Danish researchers Peter Aaby and Christine Benn have long argued that vaccines confer non-specific effects that alter overall child survival, a claim that has drawn both praise and fierce criticism. With RFK Jr. shaping US vaccine policy, their work gained political traction, helping justify significant funding shifts and sparking ethical and methodological scrutiny in Denmark. A Bandim Health Project hepatitis B birth-dose study in Guinea-Bissau is paused amid ethics concerns, while independent studies and WHO positions remain skeptical of the broader non-specific effects claim. The article traces how science, funding, and politics intersect as the debate intensifies.

via WIRED|

#guinea-bissau #health #non-specific-vaccine-effects

world5 months ago•6 min saved

Ethical alarm as Guinea-Bissau hepatitis B trial may become blueprint for US vaccine studies

Experts warn a suspended hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau could become a blueprint for US studies under RFK Jr., citing concerns about informed consent, conflicts of interest, and weak ethical oversight; the study is paused and under review, with WHO and Africa CDC urging stronger safeguards and a shift toward universal birth-dose vaccination.

via The Guardian|

#cdc #ethics #guinea-bissau

politics6 months ago•30 min saved

New Documents Trace Controversial Hepatitis B Birth-Dose Study's Shortcut to CDC Approval

A Rolling Stone investigation shows that a $1.6 million birth-dose hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea-Bissau was moved directly from the CDC director’s office to grants management, bypassing normal scientific review and ethical oversight, amid pressure from Kennedy allies and irregular ethics approvals, drawing WHO concern and congressional scrutiny as the project remains in limbo.

via Rolling Stone|

#cdc #ethics #guinea-bissau

health6 months ago•4 min saved

WHO flags unethical US-backed newborn hepatitis B trial in Guinea-Bissau

The World Health Organization criticized and halted a US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau that would compare vaccinating newborns at birth with delaying the dose to six weeks, calling the plan unethical and lacking justified scientific safeguards; the birth dose is a proven public health intervention, and about 14,000 babies were to be enrolled before the government suspended the project amid public outrage. Guinea-Bissau plans to roll out the birth-dose nationwide by 2028, with WHO support to accelerate adoption.

via BBC|

#birth-dose #ethics #guinea-bissau

world6 months ago•4 min saved

WHO Denounces Birth-Dose Hepatitis B Trial in Guinea-Bissau as Unethical

The World Health Organization condemned a US-funded trial in Guinea-Bissau that would randomize about 14,000 newborns to receive a hepatitis B vaccine at birth or at six weeks, calling the study unethical for withholding a proven, life-saving intervention. The trial, funded with $1.6 million by the CDC to Danish researchers Benn and Aaby, is suspended as Guinea-Bissau plans to adopt a birth-dose schedule in 2028 due to resource constraints, with concerns raised about potential bias and insufficient harm-reduction measures.

via Ars Technica|

#ethics-in-clinical-trials #guinea-bissau #hepatitis-b-vaccine

world7 months ago•3 min saved

Africa CDC Defends Sovereignty Over US-Backed Infant Vaccine Trial

Africa CDC chief Jean Kaseya rebuked a US-backed plan to run an infant hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau, insisting any study must be authorized by Guinea-Bissau’s National Medicines Regulatory Authority, National Ethics Committee, local IRBs, and the Ministry of Health, underscoring Africa’s sovereignty. The proposed trial would have enrolled about 14,000 newborns (7,000 vaccinated, 7,000 controls) and was funded with $1.6 million from the US HHS. Critics say such research should serve Africans’ needs and ensure standard care for controls, while the US has criticized Africa CDC as “fake and powerless.” The flare-up exposes tensions between Western funders and African health authorities over governance of research.

via Futurism|

#africa-cdc #clinical-trials #guinea-bissau

world7 months ago•5 min saved

Guinea-Bissau halts US-backed hepatitis B vaccine trial amid ethical and sovereignty concerns

Guinea-Bissau suspended a US-funded, Denmark-led hepatitis B vaccine trial after ethics-review gaps and concerns about consent, with the health ministry citing sovereignty as the deciding factor. The Africa CDC will review the protocol alongside invited US and Danish officials, amid criticism from some experts and a political shift following a coup. The trial design—with 7,000 infants vaccinated at birth and 7,000 withheld for comparison—raised ethical alarms, contrasting with WHO guidance that recommends newborn vaccination within 24 hours and Guinea-Bissau’s current six-week schedule; the outcome will hinge on the ministry’s decision.

via The Guardian|

#africa-cdc #ethics #guinea-bissau

world7 months ago•6 min saved

Guinea-Bissau halts US-funded birth-dose hepatitis B trial amid ethics concerns

Guinea-Bissau suspended a US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial that would randomize about 14,000 newborns to receive a birth dose or not, pending a technical and ethical review by the national public health institute. The Bandim Health Project designed the study and it received a $1.6 million CDC grant, with the goal of evaluating broader vaccine effects ahead of the country’s planned universal birth-dose policy in 2027. While the US Health and Human Services says the trial remains on track, African scientists have questioned funding-driven dynamics and governance, arguing the design could undermine safe vaccination or reflect political pressure to limit vaccines in Africa. The dispute highlights ongoing tensions over who controls clinical research in Africa and how local health priorities are weighed against external funding interests.

via Nature|

#clinical-trials #ethics #guinea-bissau

world7 months ago•13 min saved

Guinea-Bissau pauses hepatitis B vaccine trial for ethics review

Guinea-Bissau has paused a hepatitis B vaccine study linked to supporters of former President Donald Trump to undergo an ethics review, delaying the trial as regulators assess safety and informed consent.

via AP News|

#ethics-review #guinea-bissau #hepatitis-b

world7 months ago•3 min saved

HHS Faces Backlash Over Controversial Guinea-Bissau Vaccine Trial and Africa CDC Clash

The article reports that a U.S. HHS-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau—budgeted at $1.6 million and enrolling 14,000 infants, with only half receiving the vaccine—has sparked ethics concerns and comparisons to the Tuskegee study; Africa CDC says the trial is not affiliated with the US CDC and claims it has been halted, while HHS asserts the study will proceed; the affair unfolds amid a broader WHO-Africa CDC collaboration and an anticipated press conference, keeping the situation in flux.

via Futurism|

#africa-cdc #ethics #guinea-bissau

world7 months ago•22 min saved

Ethics questions swirl over US-backed infant vaccine timing study in Guinea-Bissau

A U.S.-backed study in Guinea-Bissau aims to assess the health effects of hepatitis B vaccine dosing timing in about 14,000 infants, but it has sparked ethics concerns and confusion over whether the research will proceed, drawing criticism from scientists and former officials while U.S. agencies defend the project.

via The Washington Post|

#clinical-trial #ethics #guinea-bissau

politics7 months ago•25 min saved

Emails reveal how a controversial hepatitis B trial won a $1.6M no‑bid grant

Rolling Stone reports that emails show Health and Human Services officials fast-tracked a $1.6 million, no-bid grant to Danish researchers for a birth-dose hepatitis B trial in Guinea‑Bissau, timed with RFK Jr.’s policy shifts. The funding was pushed as a “funding priority” by Kennedy appointees, drawing ethical concerns over withholding a lifesaving vaccine and raising questions about political influence on research funding.

via Rolling Stone|

#aaby #guinea-bissau #hepatitis-b-birth-dose

world7 months ago•3 min saved

Ethics backlash halts controversial neonatal Hep B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau

A proposed $1.6 million randomized trial funded by RFK Jr.'s HHS to study neonatal Hepatitis B vaccination in Guinea-Bissau would withhold vaccines from about 7,000 of 14,000 infants to compare outcomes; after international outrage, officials halted the study and pledged revisions, citing ethics concerns and potential non-specific harms.

via Futurism|

#bioethics #guinea-bissau #kennedy