{
  "id": 16018177,
  "title": "Guinea-Bissau stops controversial US-funded vaccine trial on newborns",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/guinea-bissau-stops-controversial-us-funded-vaccine-trial-on-newborns",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-22T08:34:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Punch Nigeria",
    "slug": "punch-nigeria",
    "url": "https://punchng.com/guinea-bissau-stops-controversial-us-funded-vaccine-trial-on-newborns/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The government of Guinea-Bissau has suspended a U.S.-funded study investigating the effects of administering the hepatitis B vaccine to newborns after international criticism over its ethics. The controversial project, led by Danish researcher Frederik Schaltz-Buchholzer, was set to receive $1.6 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with $1.6 million from private donors. The decision to halt the study came after the necessary government approval was not granted. Vaccine experts, including Paul Offit from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, criticized the study, arguing that it was scientifically unfounded and unethical to withhold an established vaccine from some newborns. The researchers initially aimed to explore whether combining the hepatitis B vaccine with the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine could enhance the overall impact of childhood vaccination.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Punch",
        "title": "Guinea-Bissau stops controversial US-funded vaccine trial on newborns",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/guinea-bissau-stops-controversial-us-funded-vaccine-trial-on-newborns-16022335",
        "published": "2026-10-22T09:24:52.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}