"The controversial US-funded study on hepatitis B vaccines among newborns in Guinea-Bissau has been halted, according to Yap Boum, a senior official at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study has been cancelled, Boum told journalists at a press conference on Thursday morning. The $1.6m study, funded under the purview of Robert F Kennedy Jr, longtime vaccine skeptic and secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) , drew outrage and criticism over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent hepatitis B in a country with a very high burden of the disease."
"It's of importance for Africa CDC to have evidence that can be translated in policy, but this has to be done within the norm. So we are glad that at this point the study is being cancelled, Boum said. The study was halted because it raised critical questions on the ethics of the trial, he said, adding: The way the study was designed was a big challenge."
"There were still some conversations happening between Guinea-Bissau officials and the US on how to conduct a trial like this ethically, and Africa CDC had assembled a team to make sure Guinea-Bissau officials receive the adequate support to ensure that this study, if it has to happen, will also fit the ethical regulations, Boum said."
A US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial among newborns in Guinea-Bissau has been halted and cancelled. The $1.6m trial was funded under the purview of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is identified as a longtime vaccine skeptic and HHS secretary. The trial provoked outrage and raised ethical concerns about withholding vaccines proven to prevent hepatitis B in a country with a high disease burden. Africa CDC emphasized that evidence intended to inform policy must conform to ethical norms and indicated the trial should be redesigned before it can proceed. Guinea-Bissau officials have signaled continued interest, and a support team has been assembled amid recent government turnover.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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