A controversial US-backed study on hepatitis B vaccines for newborns in Guinea-Bissau has been cancelled due to ethical concerns. The confirmation came from Yap Boum, a senior official at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, who said the trial design raised serious ethical challenges.
The $1.6m study, funded under the authority of Robert F Kennedy Jr at the US Department of Health and Human Services, was criticised for potentially withholding a proven hepatitis B vaccine from thousands of infants in a country with a high disease burden. Africa CDC said the study could only proceed if redesigned to meet ethical standards.
Although some US officials claimed the trial would continue in revised form, a senior official in Guinea-Bissau confirmed it had been cancelled and that the current vaccination schedule would remain in place. Public health experts welcomed the decision, calling it a significant stand against unethical research practices in Africa.
