Story perspectives

CDC’s $1.6M Guinea-Bissau Hepatitis B Trial Faces Ethics Criticism

By Drooid · Oct 23, 2026, 3:16 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

CDC funded a $1.6 million hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats asked CDC Director Erica Schwartz for a staff briefing by Nov. 6.
The trial would randomly assign half of 14,000 newborns a birth-dose vaccine, which critics called unethical.
Guinea-Bissau’s health minister said the country had not yet approved the study.

1 of 1

Story summary

CDC funded a $1.6 million hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats asked CDC Director Erica Schwartz for a staff briefing by Nov. 6.
The trial would randomly assign half of 14,000 newborns a birth-dose vaccine, which critics called unethical.
Guinea-Bissau’s health minister said the country had not yet approved the study.