CDC staff seek $1.6 million for contested newborn hepatitis-B trial in Guinea-Bissau
CDC officials asked to allocate $1.6 million to a suspended hepatitis-B vaccine study on newborns in Guinea-Bissau, prompting sharp criticism from health experts.
Late September communications from the CDC director’s office directed the agency’s budget office to set aside $1.6 million for a hepatitis-B vaccine trial that would expose newborns in Guinea-Bissau to a high risk of lifelong infection. The trial, widely condemned for its design, was suspended in January after international outcry, yet the funding request would divert money from CDC’s global health security programs, including efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The study would be conducted by a Danish team led by Christine Stabell Benn and Peter Aaby, a married couple whose previous vaccine research is under investigation by Danish authorities for possible falsification and misconduct. In December, the CDC awarded an unsolicited $1.6 million grant to the University of Southern Denmark for this group. Guinea-Bissau’s minister of public health, Quinhin Nantote, confirmed the trial remains on hold while ethical and technical reviews continue. The proposal has ignited strong backlash from health experts who label the trial unethical.
Why it matters
Diverting U.S. health funds to a disputed newborn vaccine trial raises ethical and public-health concerns globally.
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