Last week, officials from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced that Guinea-Bissau’s health authorities have been relocated to Africa. stop controversial research Unvaccinated infants would have been used as laboratory rats. However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) maintained that the case was still ongoing.

That wasn’t all U.S. health officials had to say. In a bizarre riot, H.S. said futurism He claimed that the Africa CDC was a “false and ineffective organization” and “not a reliable source of information”. inside press conference On Thursday, Africa CDC Director Gene Kaseya fired back.

“Let me tell you, we are not an NGO,” Kaseya said defiantly. “We are not a United Nations agency. We are a convening force in Africa. Our mission is to [is] It has been given to us by all 55 African Heads of State and Government. ”

“People can meet in the United States, they can meet in Europe,” Kaseya continued, perhaps saying: leaked email Discussions were held between Health Ministry officials and Danish researchers to move forward with vaccine trials in Guinea-Bissau. “If we’re not there, they’re wasting their time.”

Kaseya also made it clear that no government has the right to impose experiments on the people of Guinea-Bissau.

“Africa CDC respects and supports the sovereignty of countries,” the official continued. “It’s not the Africa CDC that says, ‘This clinical trial will happen or not.’ It’s not any other international organization that says, ‘This clinical trial will happen or not.’ It’s not like a foreign country comes and says, “This is going to be held.” It is national sovereignty. ”

HHS seems to think it has the authority to push African countries through dangerous vaccine experiments, but the reality is not so simple. According to Africa CDC GuidelinesVaccine trials without written permission from a country’s national drug regulatory authority are illegal. Similarly, approval is required from the national ethics committee and the local institutional review board at each site where the trial will be conducted.

In addition, any trial would require explicit approval from the country’s Ministry of Health, giving Guinea-Bissau officials functional power to veto experiments the government does not support.

Mr. Kaseya emphasized the importance of exercising Africa’s sovereignty over public health. “Our vision does not come from the Western world,” he said. “Our vision comes from Africa, is based on African realities and shaped by African leadership.”

in Interview with guardian“It’s very important that we fund research that Africans actually want,” said Abdulhamad Babatunde, a Nigerian doctor and global health researcher.

“Africans want to solve Africa’s problems, not satisfy the curiosity of funders,” Babatunde said, referring to HHS, which announced: $1.6 million funding package For studying in December.

Once the vaccine trial begins, 7,000 newborns will receive the hepatitis B vaccine, but a further 7,000 infants in the control group will not receive the vaccine.

as guardian Almost one in five adults and 11 percent of children in Guinea-Bissau are reported to have hepatitis B, which carries a significant risk of debilitating disease and death. In this health environment, there is no justification for intentionally leaving infants unvaccinated for an extended period of time.

“This is unacceptable,” Babatunde told the newspaper. “To prevent something like the Tuskegee study, the control group should receive standard treatment, and the intervention group should receive standard treatment.” [potentially] Better care. ”

Asked if HHS’ comments would affect future cooperation with the Africa CDC, Kaseya said he would forget about the bizarre episode.

“I was briefed that they knew nothing about any statements made to the Africa CDC,” he said. “I could talk about a statement that someone might have written somewhere. But just yesterday, HHS officials, senior officials, said they didn’t know anything about that statement. I trust them. This chapter is closed.”

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