Why Guinea-Bissau halted a controversial hepatitis vaccine trial for babies
Guinea-Bissau has halted a controversial hepatitis vaccine trial involving 14,000 babies following government intervention and police raids. The study, funded by the US CDC, faced public backlash over its methodology of withholding vaccines from a control group.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the ethical complexities of medical research in developing nations and the impact of political skepticism toward vaccination programs.
The trial failed to gain the necessary government approval, one researcher involved in the project said in a statement, adding that the end of the trial was a “significant setback” for African science.
The West African nation’s judicial police said in mid-October that it had raided the facilities of the research group leading the project in the capital, Bissau, and seized vaccine batches.
Authorities said inquiries were continuing to determine whether the trial had complied with the country’s safety standards.
FILE – A box of hepatitis B vaccine is displayed at a CVS Pharmacy, on September 9, 2025, in Miami, Florida [File photo: AP/Rebecca Blackwell]
The trial was designed to assess the effects of World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended HBV vaccines on two groups of babies. One group would receive the vaccine at birth, and another, chosen at random, would receive it six weeks later.
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