Tag: Public Health Ethics
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RFK Jr. Vaccine Test in West Africa Blocked Amid Ethics Firestorm
Overview: A Controversial Vaccine Trial Comes Under Scrutiny The West African nation of Guinea-Bissau has suspended a US-funded study involving the hepatitis B vaccine in newborns. The decision, driven by a rising chorus of public health researchers and ethicists, centers on concerns about how the trial was designed, informed consent standards, and potential risks to…
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Backed Vaccination Study Begins in Guinea: Delaying Hepatitis B for Newborns
Overview of the Trial A new, government-funded clinical study began this week in Guinea-Bissau, focused on the timing of hepatitis B vaccination for newborns. The project, supported by funding from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), aims to delay the initial hepatitis B vaccine dose for some infants so researchers can…
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Stinky Socks Replace Humans as Bait in River Blindness Surveys
Overview: A safer approach to monitoring river blindness River blindness, or onchocerciasis, is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic worms transmitted by black flies. Traditional field surveys have relied on human volunteers to attract black flies, who sample these insects to gauge transmission risk and assess the impact of mass drug administration programs. While…
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What India Can Learn from Maldives’ Triple Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission
Introduction: A landmark in public health On October 13, 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) validated the Republic of Maldives as the first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, syphilis, and Hepatitis B virus (HBV). This triple elimination marks a historic achievement: transmission from mothers to newborns for all three infections has fallen…