Guinea-Bissau approves disputed newborn vaccine trial
Half of 14,000 babies would go without the hepatitis B vaccine for their first six weeks. Africa's public health agency opposes the US-funded study.
Bissau — A hepatitis B vaccine trial on newborns in Guinea-Bissau, paid for by the United States government and suspended in January after an outcry from scientists, has been cleared to go ahead, Africanews reports, citing the Guardian.
An ethics committee in Denmark and officials in Guinea-Bissau both approved the project last week, according to the report.
The design
The study, run by Danish researchers, would involve 14,000 babies. The vaccine would be withheld from half of them for the first six weeks of life.
It is funded with $1.6 million from the US Department of Health. The US health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, has often voiced scepticism about vaccines, and his advisers late last year dropped the recommendation that all American infants receive the hepatitis B vaccine.
The objection
Critics say the trial would deliberately and randomly deny infants a vaccine that is known to protect them, in a country where the disease is common.
World Health Organization figures cited in the report show why they are concerned:
- more than 12% of adults in Guinea-Bissau are estimated to be living with chronic hepatitis B;
- infection among children under five is about 2%;
- the global target is below 0.1%.
Guinea-Bissau plans to vaccinate all newborns against hepatitis B from 2028.
Africa CDC
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention opposes the trial. It said last week that discussions between the United States and Guinea-Bissau were continuing and that more details would follow.
This report is based on reporting by Africanews, which cites the Guardian.
