The US suspended funding of GAVI on the basis of just one likely flawed study : Gabrielle Emanuel / NPR

Shared by Tom McDermott

This is one of several instances in which RFK's reorganized Department of Health and Human Services has used questionable data as a basis for his claims. HHS recently sent Congress sent Congress
recommendations to change US policy on covid vaccines. "One health expert called the document “willful medical disinformation” about the safety of covid vaccines for children and pregnant women."  The implications of his decision to halt funding of GAVI, however, are far more damaging to global health.  


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Summary
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the U.S. would halt more than $1 billion in pledged funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, citing vaccine safety concerns. His decision was based on a 2017 study from Guinea-Bissau suggesting that children who received the DTP vaccine were more likely to die from unrelated causes. Vaccine experts interviewed by NPR questioned the validity of the study, citing outdated data from over 40 years ago, methodological flaws, and the absence of a plausible mechanism. Subsequent studies, including one by the same authors using more recent data, found no increased mortality linked to the vaccine.

"While the study was published less than a decade ago, the data it relies on is from the early 1980s — more than 40 years ago.

"The study is based on ancient data," says Dr. Beate Kampmann, a vaccinologist and pediatrician who is the scientific director of the Centre for Global Health at Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin — one of Europe's largest university hospitals.

"During that time, vaccines were not commonly used in the country, and the risk of death in infants was extremely high," explains Dr. Kate O'Brien, the director of the Department of Immunizations, Vaccines and Biologicals at WHO.

Since then, the number of youngsters who die has dropped precipitously.

According to data from the World Bank, in 1984 in Guinea-Bissau, 244 kids died before their fifth birthday out of every 1,000 kids born. In 2023, that number had dropped to 69."

WHO and its advisory bodies have reviewed the issue multiple times since 2000 and have reaffirmed the safety and life-saving benefits of the vaccine. Global health leaders warned that cutting Gavi’s funding could result in widespread child deaths and reversed gains in immunization.

Quotes
“Secretary Kennedy believes that global public health recommendations must not rely on assurances alone, but on continuous, independent review and rigorous debate.” – HHS statement
“If we step back from vaccination, we will cause harm. It will result in deaths.” – Dr. Kate O’Brien, WHO
“Of all the global health programs that have been cut, this will likely mean more deaths than any [other cut].” – Dr. Atul Gawande
“There is probably no better public health organization... than Gavi.” – Dr. Paul Offit, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia