Guinea-Bissau suspends US-funded vaccine trial as African scientists question its motives

"Public-health authorities in Guinea-Bissau say that they have suspended a controversial US-funded hepatitis B vaccine study that has raised questions about who has authority over clinical research conducted in Africa conducted by research teams from other countries. At a press conference held on 22 January, officials from Guinea-Bissau's ministry of health said that the study was being suspended pending a technical and ethical review by the nation's public-health institute. The announcement followed multiple conflicting statements over whether or not the trial would proceed."

"The meeting, convened by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), comes after an official at the organization signalled last week that the trial would not proceed. In an e-mail to Nature the day of the press conference, an official at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a prominent funder of the research, said that the study was still on track, leaving the trial's status uncertain."

Guinea-Bissau's public-health authorities suspended a US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial pending a technical and ethical review by the national public-health institute. The suspension followed conflicting statements from international partners about whether the trial would proceed. The US Department of Health and Human Services indicated the study remained on track while regional and national officials called for review and coordination. African scientists expressed concern that political pressure, funding interests and fragmented oversight can sideline local health priorities. The trial was designed by the Bandim Health Project at the University of Southern Denmark and partially funded by a US$1.6-million grant.

Read at Nature