Guinea-Bissau cancels US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial
The proposed trial would have involved 14,000 newborns, with half denied the WHO-recommended vaccine.
Guinea-Bissau has cancelled a proposed hepatitis B vaccine trial that was funded by the US. The decision followed international criticism that the trial was unethical and potentially exploitative. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. funded the study, which planned to involve 14,000 newborns.
Half of the newborns in the trial would have received the vaccine, while the other half would have been denied the shot, despite World Health Organization recommendations. Health experts warned that withholding the vaccine could expose babies to infection in Guinea-Bissau, where nearly one in five people has hepatitis B. The government had previously prohibited vaccine trials involving children.
The WHO recommends that all babies receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth to prevent chronic infection, which can lead to liver damage and cancer. Police have seized a batch of vaccines from the research centre at the centre of the controversy.
Why it mattersNewborn babies in Guinea-Bissau are at risk of chronic hepatitis B infection due to the cancellation of a vaccine trial that would have denied half of them the WHO-recommended shot.