RFK Jr’s ‘deities of vaccine research’ raided by police in Guinea-Bissau

Robert F Kennedy Jr em Washington DC. Fotografia: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA Visualizar imagem em tela cheia Robert F Kennedy Jr em Washington DC. Fotografia: Jim Lo Scalzo/EP Guiné-Bissau 'Deidades da pesquisa de vacinas' do RFK Jr foram abordadas pela polícia em Guiné-Bissau.

Polícia apreende doses de vacina contra hepatite B de pessoas no centro da disputa sobre pesquisa em recém‑nascidos africanos.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleControversial vaccine researchers who have been praised by Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, had their offices in Guinea-Bissau raided by judicial police, who seized doses of hepatitis B vaccines, officials said on Facebook.

The police search took place on Monday, involving “investigative procedures aimed at clarifying the circumstances related to the said batch of vaccines”, according to the social media post, which was translated from Portuguese.

The announcement noted that seizing the immunizations did not point to “irregularities in the quality, safety, or effectiveness of the vaccines”.

The Bandim Health Project recently posted a letter of approval for the trial from Guinea-Bissau’s national ethics committee at the ministry of public health, dated 14 July and signed by the committee’s president, Mouhammed Djicó Ould Ahmed.

Um comitê de ética em pesquisa dinamarquês, que precisou alterar suas regras para avaliar um ensaio clínico, também aprovou o estudo no início deste mês.

Quinhin Nantote, the health minister of Guinea-Bissau’s transitional government, disputed reports that the trial would move forward.

O estudo foi redesenhado durante o verão, mas ainda negaria vacinas contra hepatite B a 7. 000 recém‑nascidos nas primeiras seis semanas de vida, em um país onde cerca de um em cada cinco adultos tem o vírus.

Hepatitis B kills 15% to 25% of people with chronic infections, causing cancer and liver failure, and newborns are particularly vulnerable – but vaccination within 24 hours of birth is safe and highly effective at preventing illness.

Qualquer estudo que negasse a vacina aos participantes seria “unethical and exposes newborns to serious and potentially irreversible harm”, disse Tarik Jašarević, porta-voz da Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS), chamando a vacinação contra hepatite B ao nascer de “essential public health intervention”.

Through its country office in Guinea-Bissau, the WHO and its partners have been advising the ministry of health on the planned introduction of the hepatitis B vaccine and the potential impact of this study, Jašarević added.

The Bandim Health Project was founded by anthropologist Peter Aaby in 1978, and it is now co-led by his wife, Christine Stabell Benn, an epidemiologist.

Kennedy has repeatedly praised their work, calling them “the deities of vaccine research” at a recent anti-vaccine conference. He has several times referenced the results of a study they conducted on the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP), which the same researchers later conducted again and found completely different results.

Even so, Kennedy called Aaby a “very famous” researcher on Joe Rogan’s podcast in 2023 and cited his research when he halted US funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Aaby, Stabell Benn e Frederik Schaltz-Buchholzer, o pesquisador principal do projeto, não responderam às perguntas do Guardian sobre o julgamento e a busca policial.

The Bandim organization is deeply enmeshed in Guinea-Bissau but has done little to improve the country’s health and research capacities in five decades of operation, according to a report from the non-profit Stand Up for Science (SUFS).

The organization is now fundraising to help roll out the vaccines at birth to all newborns in the country.

The police raid underlines the fact that Guinea-Bissau is a “fragile” nation that experienced a military coup less than a year ago, Delawalla said. The country lacks the stability needed for clinical trials, she added.