In brief
The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised serious ethical concerns about a U.S.-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial involving newborns in Guinea-Bissau. The trial aimed to compare the effects of administering the vaccine at birth versus delaying it for six weeks. WHO described this as potentially harmful, as vaccinated newborns would be protected while others would be left vulnerable. Following public backlash, the government halted the trial initially set for 14,000 infants. Critics stress that Guinea-Bissauans shouldn't be treated as experimental subjects and advocate for immediate access to lifesaving vaccines.
A now-halted plan to run a hepatitis B vaccine trial involving thousands of newborns in Guinea-Bissau has been criticized by the World Health Organization as unethical.
The US-funded study had sought to give one set of babies the vaccine at birth, while another would have had the shot delayed until six weeks of age.
The WHO said it had significant concerns about the plan, describing the birth-dose vaccine as an effective and essential public health intervention, with a proven record.
The US health department, headed by Robert F Kennedy Jr., who has questioned the effects of vaccines, aimed to use the trial to explore the jab's broader health effects.
The WHO stated its concerns regarding the study's scientific justification, ethical safeguards, and consistency with established research standards. It emphasized that the jab has been used for over three decades in more than 115 countries, arguing that withholding it from some newborns could expose them to potentially irreversible harm.
Guinea-Bissau, where a considerable portion of the population is estimated to have hepatitis B, plans to introduce the birth dose of the vaccine nationwide by 2028. Currently, the shot is given at six weeks.
Initially, a total of 14,000 babies were slated to be part of this trial funded by the US and led by Danish researchers, but growing public outrage prompted the government to suspend it last month.
Critics, including the former health minister of Guinea-Bissau, have voiced ethical concerns about using the population in this manner, insisting that Guinea-Bissauans are not guinea pigs.
