From the Guardian · · 2m
Police raid vaccine researchers praised by RFK Jr
Guinea-Bissau authorities seize hepatitis B vaccines from the Bandim Health Project, which has drawn both praise from the US health secretary and criticism over a controversial trial.
In brief
Guinea-Bissau authorities seize hepatitis B vaccines from the Bandim Health Project, which has drawn both praise from the US health secretary and criticism over a controversial trial. Police in Guinea-Bissau raided offices of vaccine researchers praised by RFK Jr, seizing hepatitis B vaccines amid an ongoing dispute…
Police raid vaccine research offices
Judicial police in Guinea-Bissau raided offices of controversial vaccine researchers on Monday, seizing doses of hepatitis B vaccines. The search aimed to clarify circumstances related to the vaccine batch.
Researchers praised by RFK Jr
The Bandim Health Project, led by anthropologist Peter Aaby and epidemiologist Christine Stabell Benn, has been called the deities of vaccine research by Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US Department of Health and Human Services…
“the deities of vaccine research”
Trial would deny vaccines to newborns
The study, redesigned over summer, would deny hepatitis B vaccines to seven thousand newborns in their first six weeks of life in Guinea-Bissau, where about one in five adults carry the virus.
Hepatitis B kills infected people
Hepatitis B kills fifteen to twenty five percent of people with chronic infections, causing cancer and liver failure. Newborns are particularly vulnerable, but vaccination within twenty four hours of birth is safe and highly effective.
WHO calls trial unethical
The World Health Organization said any study denying the vaccine to participants was unethical and exposed newborns to serious and potentially irreversible harm, calling hepatitis B vaccination at birth an essential public health intervention.
“unethical and exposes newborns to serious and potentially irreversible harm”
Trial funding and approvals
The research received one point six million dollars from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, matched by the Pershing Square Foundation and the Bluebell Foundation for a total of three point two million…
Health minister denies trial will proceed
Quinhin Nantote, health minister of Guinea-Bissau's transitional government, disputed reports that the trial would move forward, telling the Guardian on Thursday that the claim was not even remotely true.
“This is not even remotely true”
Country lacks stability for trials
Guinea-Bissau experienced a military coup less than a year ago and lacks the stability needed for clinical trials, according to Colette Delawalla, founder of Stand Up for Science.
At a glance
Police in Guinea-Bissau raided offices of vaccine researchers praised by RFK Jr, seizing hepatitis B vaccines amid an ongoing dispute over a trial that would deny the vaccine to newborns.
