Guinea-Bissau Suspends US Vaccine Study Amid Claims of Cancellation
A highly contentious vaccine study in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau has been put on hold after claims emerged that it had been cancelled due to concerns over ethics. The study, which aimed to investigate the health effects of giving hepatitis B vaccines alongside other shots to infants, was initially approved by Guinea-Bissau's ethics committee and was slated to involve 7,000 children.
However, in a shocking twist, the country's newly appointed minister of health, Quinhin Nantote, revealed that the trial had been "suspended" due to scientific inadequacy. Nantote stated that the science behind the study was not well-reviewed, sparking outrage from African health leaders and experts.
"This is not acceptable," said Dr. Abdulhammad Babatunde, a medical doctor and global health researcher in Nigeria. "To prevent things like the Tuskegee study and others, the control group has to get the standard of care, and the intervention group should get [potentially] better care."
The decision to halt the trial has been met with skepticism by officials from international organizations, including the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon claimed that the Africa CDC was "waging a public-relations campaign aimed to shape public perception rather than engaging with the scientific facts".
However, Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa CDC, refuted these claims, stating that "it's the sovereignty of the country" and emphasizing that decisions regarding research should be made by local authorities.
Critics argue that the study was never adequately reviewed, particularly given its design which involved withholding vaccines from some newborns. The World Health Organization recommends giving the hepatitis B vaccine to all newborns within 24 hours of birth.
The controversy highlights the challenges faced by Guinea-Bissau in addressing health issues, including limited access to basic services such as water and sanitation, poverty, and food insecurity. Experts stress that decisions about research must be made with caution, taking into account local context and concerns about ethics.
A highly contentious vaccine study in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau has been put on hold after claims emerged that it had been cancelled due to concerns over ethics. The study, which aimed to investigate the health effects of giving hepatitis B vaccines alongside other shots to infants, was initially approved by Guinea-Bissau's ethics committee and was slated to involve 7,000 children.
However, in a shocking twist, the country's newly appointed minister of health, Quinhin Nantote, revealed that the trial had been "suspended" due to scientific inadequacy. Nantote stated that the science behind the study was not well-reviewed, sparking outrage from African health leaders and experts.
"This is not acceptable," said Dr. Abdulhammad Babatunde, a medical doctor and global health researcher in Nigeria. "To prevent things like the Tuskegee study and others, the control group has to get the standard of care, and the intervention group should get [potentially] better care."
The decision to halt the trial has been met with skepticism by officials from international organizations, including the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon claimed that the Africa CDC was "waging a public-relations campaign aimed to shape public perception rather than engaging with the scientific facts".
However, Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa CDC, refuted these claims, stating that "it's the sovereignty of the country" and emphasizing that decisions regarding research should be made by local authorities.
Critics argue that the study was never adequately reviewed, particularly given its design which involved withholding vaccines from some newborns. The World Health Organization recommends giving the hepatitis B vaccine to all newborns within 24 hours of birth.
The controversy highlights the challenges faced by Guinea-Bissau in addressing health issues, including limited access to basic services such as water and sanitation, poverty, and food insecurity. Experts stress that decisions about research must be made with caution, taking into account local context and concerns about ethics.
It's just not making sense to me. I think what's really going on here is that there are just a lot of people who aren't used to seeing things done differently in Africa, and they're getting all bent out of shape about it.
It's a pretty simple concept, right?
It would've been nice if we could just get along and support each other in our efforts to make the world a better place.
they dont deserve to be experimented on without proper care 
from my pov as someone who cares, it's all about transparency & trust 
the us gov should also step in & provide more support to these countries 
... the us govt is basically accusing africa of being all manipulative, but meanwhile they're not exactly covering themselves in glory here either 
... it's like, come on guys, let's just try to find a way to make this work that everyone can agree on 
is there something fishy going on here? 
vaccine study in guinea-bissau is a huge mess 
. cant believe the science behind it wasnt well-reviewed 
. withholding vaccines from newborns is a big no-no 
.
, not criticizing them over this one study 
. cant let politics get in the way of saving lives 
. lets hope they can figure out whats going on and make some changes soon 
. hopefully they can get some real support from the international community to help them make informed decisions 
I think it's kinda unfair to all those poor kids who were gonna be part of the study. And I'm also wondering why the #US DeptOfHealth is getting all bent out of shape about this... wasn't they supposed to support global health research or something? 
Anyway, it just goes to show how complicated healthcare can get when you add politics and ethics into the mix. 
. but isn't that exactly the problem? when we assume the worst about someone without having all the facts? it's like, can't we try to understand each other for once? 
.
.
i feel for all those babies who were supposed to get vaccinated on time. and now it's suspended? i guess we'll never know what happened 
Yeah, let's definitely not do that again... wait, no, actually, maybe we should've done it to see what happens 
Sorry, what was I saying? Oh yeah, I don't trust the Africa CDC 
And maybe they shouldn't've approved this study in the first place... but then again, what if it's gonna revolutionize our understanding of vaccines? 
Wait, no, I don't think so... or do I? 
. It makes me think what we know or not? 
is really questionable 
.
it's like they didn't even read the instructions 
. Withholding vaccines from some newborns? 
just 24 hours after birth 
who need help but can't get it 
. It's like they're stuck between a rock and hard place 
are there more studies that got cancelled without us knowing? 
maybe we should be asking more questions 
the world health org said to give those vaccines to all newborns within 24 hours, whats going on with that??