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For now, the trial is not moving forward; Guinea-Bissau officials have not signed off on the trial. In a press conference last week, the country’s health minister, Quinhin Nantote, confirmed that the government had not yet authorized it. “Any scientific research initiative involving human beings, particularly children, must strictly comply with applicable national legislation, international ethical principles, competent evaluation and approval mechanisms,” Nantote said, according to Reuters .
In response to media reports that the trial will move forward, Nantote told the Guardian, “This is not even remotely true.” Now it appears that officials in Guinea-Bissau have opened an investigation into Aaby and Stabell Benn’s work. In a Facebook post Monday , translated from Portuguese, the judicial police announced they carried out a “search operation at the facilities of the Bandim Health Project in Bissau, which culminated in the seizure of a batch of hepatitis B vaccines intended for vaccination of children in the country.” The police added that the operation “aimed at clarifying the circumstances related to the said batch of vaccines.” The announcement noted that “the seizure constitutes an investigative procedure and does not allow, in itself, to conclude the existence of irregularities in the quality, safety, or effectiveness of the vaccines.”
Source: Ars Technica
