Bandim Health Project:
A health and demographic surveillance system site situated in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa
Bandim Health Project
Bandim Health Project follows a population of more than 200,000 individuals in urban and rural Guinea-Bissau. This provides a unique platform for conducting health research. One of the major research areas is to study the “real life” effects of vaccines, vitamin A and other health interventions to women and children. Other research areas include malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Bandim Health Project is a collaboration between the Guinean Ministry of Health and University of Southern Denmark. Formally, it is placed under the Guinean National Institute of Public Health. The main offices are placed in the suburb Bandim. The Danish part of the group group is hosted at the Danish National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark.
Julie Odgaard Vedel has defended her PhD Thesis
On May 27th, 2025, Julie Odgaard Vedel successfully defended her PhD thesis at the University of Southern Denmark. Her thesis, titled “ The gap between the planned and real-life implementation of the vaccination programme: Timely and effective BCG vaccination in Guinea-Bissau”, is based on her research at the Bandim Health Project in Guinea-Bissau.
The defense took place at The National Institute of Public Health at SDU, where Julie was recognized for her significant research contribution.
Warm congratulations to Julie on this great achievement!
We are very happy that Julie has decided to continue her work with us as a Post doc on the study “Providing BCG revaccination with the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine to improve female survival in Africa“.
“Vejet på en forældet vægt”
Det er normalt et privilegium, at ens forskning er genstand for Weekendavisens opmærksomhed.
Desværre er det ikke tilfældet i tre artikler, som Weekendavisen har trykt den 21. februar, 5. marts og 4. april, 2025.
Her iscenesættes et karaktermord på et konstrueret grundlag, men jo alligevel med intenderet skadevirkning.
Vi har taget hele ordlyden af WA’s hovedartikler og svaret punkt for punkt: 1. artikel kan læses her, 2. artikel kan læses her, 3. artikel kan læses her og 4. artikel kan læses her. Artiklerne ligger også på LinkedIn.
Peter Aaby og Christine Stabell Benn har endvidere skrevet et debatindlæg til Weekendavisen den 14. marts 2025, hvor de forholder sig til kritikken. Debatindlægget kan læses her.
Her er vores udlægning af Henrik Støvrings liste over ”30 nulfund”.
Nyt indlæg med titlen “Heksejagt” skrevet af Peter Aaby og Christine Stabell Benn og bragt i Weekendavisen 28. marts 2025 kan læses her.
Vedr. Grundforskningscenteret CVIVA – Research Center for Vitamins & Vaccines: Her er CVIVA’s evalueringsrapport, her er nævnets afgørelsesbrev og her er det endelige brev fra nævnet.
New article "Patterns or p-values?"
March 2, 2025
In this article Peter Aaby and Christine Stabell Benn describes some of the discrediting that their research into non-specific effects of vaccines is experiencing. A lot is related to a simplistic and outdated view on the p-value as a factor that can discriminate between important and not important.
Weekendavisens Skattejagt
Weekendavisens (WA) Gunver Vestergård (GV) har søgt aktindsigt ved de institutioner Bandim Health Project har været tilknyttet. Hun har tidligere i WA (7/3-2025) skrevet om:
”Den dødelige mæslingevaccine. Peter Aaby har i hele sin forskerkarriere været en kontroversiel herre. Hans vej til hypotesen om uspecifikke effekter går via en højdosis mæslingevaccine. I forsøg fra Senegal, Haiti og Guinea-Bissau i slutningen af 1980erne så den ud til at øge børnedødeligheden især blandt piger. WHO holdt op med at bruge vaccinen i 1992. Det var en stor sejr for Aaby, som stod bag tallene fra Guinea-Bissau, men sagen endte i en konflikt, for forskeren i spidsen for Senegal-forsøget anmeldte Aaby til uredelighedsudvalget UVVU. Forskeren mente blandt andet, at Aaby havde publiceret hans resultater fra Senegal uden at få lov. Aaby blev frikendt i alle anklager.”
Det afgørende i denne sag var vel ikke, at Peter Aaby er ”en kontroversiel herre”, men at WHO og WHOs udvalg af internationalt kendte forskere anerkendte, at en vaccine, som beskyttede mod målsygdommen mæslinger, var forbundet med højere dødelighed for piger. Et klarere bevis for, at der er ”uspecifikke effekter” af nogle vacciner, kan man vel ikke få. Det er derfor lidt uklart hvorfor GV den 27. marts 2025 har præciseret sin anmodning til Nævnet for Videnskabelig Uredelighed (NVU) om at fremskaffe 36 af de 73 dokumenterne i sagen.
GV har nu fået 13 af dokumenterne fra NVU den 11/4-2025.
UVVU (nu Nævnet for Videnskabelig Uredelighed) nedsatte i 1993 en international komite bestående af professorerne Daniel Andersen, København, Povl Riis, København, Morten Harboe, Oslo, og P. Helena Mäkelä, Helsinki.
Review of Guinea Bissau vaccine-related mortality studies: Report of WHO mission, Bissau, October 9-14 2000
Til SSI har WA journalisten specifikt tilføjet: “Såfremt I er i besiddelse af den WHO-rapport, som formodentligt blev udarbejdet efter en WHO-undersøgelse af Bandim Health Project, vil jeg gerne søge aktindsigt i den. På et tidspunkt, formodentligt i 90’erne eller 00’erne, besøgte WHO Bandim Health Project i Guinea-Bissau. De brugte mindst en uge på at undersøge al dataindsamling og interviewe alle medarbejdere. Jeg antager, at der kom en rapport ud af besøget, som også må være sendt til de ansvarlige for Bandim, dvs SSI på det tidspunkt. Jeg har også forespurgt WHO om rapporten, men har ikke fået svar. Hvis I har en sådan rapport i jeres arkiver, vil jeg gerne søge aktindsigt i den.”
Baggrunden for WHOs besøg var, at British Medical Journal (BMJ) skulle trykke vores første artikel om, at DTP tilsyneladende havde negative uspecifikke effekter (84% højere dødelighed for DTP-vaccinerede sammenlignet med DTP-uvaccinerede) (Kristensen et al. BMJ 2000). WA har åbenbart formodet, at WHO vil sige noget dårligt om vores forskning i uspecifikke effekter af vacciner.
Vi deler derfor her WHO´s rapport artikler, så alle kan se, at det ikke var tilfældet.
For dem, der ikke har tid til at læse rapporter og til Weekendavisens ærgrelse, så kan vi fortælle, at WHO’s gæster, efter at have studeret alt vores materiale, konkluderede: ” On the basis of what we have seen the only conclusion that can be drawn is that this is a simple, honest study whose alarming conclusion, with respect to DTP, cannot be attributed to any detectable bias or imperfections in the study.”
WHO svarede aldrig på rapporten.
“There is now compelling evidence that not only do vaccines have specific effects against the targeted infections, but they also have non-specific effects (NSEs) on the immune system’s ability to combat other pathogens.”
New commentary in Vaccine by Christine Stabell Benn:
“Non-specific effects of vaccines: The status and the future”.
PhD student Isaquel Bartolomeu Silva
lsaquel is currently enrolled as a PhD student at the University of Southern Denmark, he continues to pursue knowledge and innovation in his mission to positively impact the lives of mothers and children.
Thus. lsaquel’s academic journey reflects not only his determination to further his own education, but also his contribution to expanding the medical understanding of maternal and child health to diminish the high maternal and child mortality that still is a reality in Guinea-Bissau and many other low income settings. Though still young, he already, due to the situation in his country, plays an important role in the health care system.
Furthermore, his commitment to education and knowledge dissemination is evident in his engagement with his own staff and with the public and the medical community. In this and many other ways, lsaquel has become a role model for the young medical professionals in his country.
Isaquels recent achivements:
The 2024 Penta Brighter Future Award
PhD student Isaquel Bartolomeu Silva won the Penta Brighter Future Award 2024. The award is a global initiative to recognize young people who excel in the areas of care for pregnant women and children living with infectious diseases around the world.
“POWERLIST 100” is an alliance between “BANTUMEN” and different Portuguese-speaking communication platforms to honor and celebrate the multiplicity, excellence and power of black people who share Portuguese as an official language. Bandim Health Project is proud to announce that PhD student Isaquel Bartolomeu Silva is now on POWERLIST 100.
“Young personality” by the digital platform “NÔ STA DJUNTO”, 2024
The term “nô sta djunto”, used in the Guinean lingua franca – Kriol, means “we are together” in Portuguese, reflecting the spirit of unity and collaboration that guides our activities. Isaquel Bartolomeu Silva was awarded the “Young personality award” in 2024.
DIAS researchers visit the Bandim Health Project in Guinea-Bissau
A team of nine researchers from five faculties at the University of Southern Denmark, have been on an excursion to Guinea-Bissau to collaborate with the Bandim Health Project. To explore the potential of interdisciplinary approaches in tackling complex problems, each researcher brought unique perspectives and areas of expertise to the table.
During the eight-day trip, the research team visited several Guinean institutions, including the Instituto da Biodiversidade e das Áreas Protegidas (IBAP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the national hospital, and INEP, the Guinean Social Science University. These experiences provided ample food for thought, emphasizing the value of interdisciplinary viewpoints when addressing challenges. The aim of the fieldtrip, was to foster groundbreaking ideas and solutions through curiosity-driven research, transcending disciplinary boundaries.
Funding for this trip to Guinea-Bissau was provided by the Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS).
Participants: Sune Vork Steffensen, Sebastian Mernild, Søren Tollestrup Askegaard, Shriram Venkatraman, Cintia Organo Quintana, Maria Elo, Elzbieta Pastucha, Sani Abdullahi, Christine Stabell Benn, Peter Aaby & Ane Fisker
Review af artikel i Ugeskrift for Læger "Dødelighed ved difteri-tetanus-pertussis vaccine"
2024;186.v07240483
Som det fremgår, er artiklen karakteriseret ved selektiv rapportering og misforståelser af de oprindelige artikler.
Professor Christine Stabell Benn has been awarded the George Macdonald Medal
The medal is awarded by The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, for outstanding research leading to improvement of health in the tropics.
OPTIMMUNIZE 2022
In November 2022 OPTIMMUNIZE organized a conference in Odense with the topic: Optimizing the beneficial non-specific effects (NSEs) of vaccines.
WE ARE PROUD
Non-specific effects of vaccines named a vaccine milestone by Nature
The world-leading scientific journal “Nature” has made a list of the major milestones in vaccines. The discovery of the beneficial non-specific effects of live attenuated vaccines made by Peter Aaby in 1984 was one of them (milestone 13).
Bandim books
Bandim Health Project have published three books in the last 40 years with “Forty years of contradicting conventional wisdom 1978 – 2018” being the latest.
How vaccines train the immune system in ways no one expected | Christine Stabell Benn | TEDxAarhus
VACCINE CURIOUS
Christine Stabell Benn
This podcast investigates vaccines and does so with curiosity.
Whether it be from a medical or a personal angle each guest offers different perspectives on what we know about vaccines.
Your host is professor in global health from University of Southern Denmark, Christine Stabell Benn.
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Coronapandemien har stillet skarpt på, hvad vi ved om vacciner, og hvad en nål i skulderen betyder for den enkelte, for samfundet og for forskningen.
Denne podcast undersøger vacciner og gør det med nysgerrighed.
Uanset om det er fra en medicinsk eller en personlig vinkel, tilbyder hver gæst forskellige perspektiver på, hvad vi ved om vacciner.
Din vært er professor i global sundhed fra Syddansk Universitet, Christine Stabell Benn
NONSEnse
A NordForsk-funded consortium to study childhood morbidity and potential non-specific effects of the childhood vaccination programs in the Nordic countries