All articles tagged with #guinea bissau
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
An Africa CDC-backed US-funded birth-dose hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau has been cancelled due to ethical concerns over its design; officials say it will only resume after a redesign to meet ethical norms, with ongoing talks between Guinea-Bissau and the US. Critics argued the trial could deprive thousands of children of vaccination for the sake of a coin-toss allocation, while supporters say it could improve access if properly implemented.
The article criticizes RFK Jr.'s plan to conduct a controversial and potentially unethical study in Guinea-Bissau, where children will be deliberately delayed in receiving hepatitis B vaccines to test alleged long-term neurological harms, echoing historical abuses like the Tuskegee experiment.
The Trump administration awarded a controversial $1.6 million no-bid contract to a Danish university to study hepatitis B vaccinations in Guinea-Bissau, raising ethical concerns due to the withholding of vaccines from some newborns in a randomized trial, which critics argue is unethical and could exacerbate vaccine hesitancy.