CONTROVERSIAL VACCINE TRIAL CANCELLED IN GUINEA-BISSAU

A clinical trial project to test the hepatitis B vaccine on 14,000 newborns in Guinea-Bissau has been canceled following widespread criticism denouncing the approach as unethical and neo-colonial. Funded by the United States under the authority of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the study planned to leave half of the infants unvaccinated, despite the World Health Organization's recommendation for vaccination at birth. Police seized a batch of vaccines from the research center involved.