Jamie Minchin
@jaminchin.bsky.social
MPH. Researcher. Public Health Program Manager. Former USAID. RPCV. Caring matters. Views my own. 💉🦠🤰
"The amended protocol itself acknowledges both the high prevalence of hepatitis B among women in Guinea-Bissau and the effectiveness of the birth dose in preventing vertical transmission, while still choosing a design that withholds that protection from half of enrolled infants."
Reports said the trial was halted. HHS says it will proceed. The revised protocol remains unethical. Scrutiny must continue until participants are no longer placed in harm’s way. I read the revised protocol and wrote a follow-up.
bktitanji.substack.com/p/lipstick-o...
bktitanji.substack.com/p/lipstick-o...
Lipstick on a Pig: Why the Amended Hepatitis B Birth-Dose Trial in Guinea Bissau Remains Ethically Indefensible
How Scrutiny and African Leadership Changed the Conversation
bktitanji.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 7:28 PM
"The amended protocol itself acknowledges both the high prevalence of hepatitis B among women in Guinea-Bissau and the effectiveness of the birth dose in preventing vertical transmission, while still choosing a design that withholds that protection from half of enrolled infants."
I have thoughts about trying to equivocate a process of evaluating a consumer good to consultation on medical care. Not to mention goods like car seats cannot even reach our market without approval of an expert body. Should parents have the "right" to purchase unsafe car seats by this logic??
Let’s not trust experts — that makes total sense.
I want a trained pilot flying my plane, just like I want trained experts making decisions about my healthcare.
If RFK doesn’t believe in expertise, maybe he’d be willing to board a flight piloted by someone who learned from the internet.
I want a trained pilot flying my plane, just like I want trained experts making decisions about my healthcare.
If RFK doesn’t believe in expertise, maybe he’d be willing to board a flight piloted by someone who learned from the internet.
HHS Secretary RFK Jr: "This idea that you should trust the experts, a good mother doesn't do that"
January 16, 2026 at 5:31 PM
I have thoughts about trying to equivocate a process of evaluating a consumer good to consultation on medical care. Not to mention goods like car seats cannot even reach our market without approval of an expert body. Should parents have the "right" to purchase unsafe car seats by this logic??
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
Danish group that’s been doing long-term development and health research in Guinea-Bissau has their unethical CDC-funded hep b vax trial cancelled… int’l pressure and pressure from within G-B did this www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled
$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Danish group that’s been doing long-term development and health research in Guinea-Bissau has their unethical CDC-funded hep b vax trial cancelled… int’l pressure and pressure from within G-B did this www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
That we're in a place, at a time, when someone has to write this headline, this article — it's almost unfathomable. Please do read @krutikakuppalli.bsky.social's take. www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/m...
Medical schools must prepare tomorrow’s doctors for yesterday’s diseases
Medical schools must now prepare tomorrow’s doctors for yesterday’s diseases.
www.statnews.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:46 PM
That we're in a place, at a time, when someone has to write this headline, this article — it's almost unfathomable. Please do read @krutikakuppalli.bsky.social's take. www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/m...
Finding TB cases in the pregnant population is daunting yet absolutely critical work. The findings of this paper regarding increased risk to pregnant and postpartum people are instrumental to advocating for TB/ANC programs that find and treat!!
Our new paper highlights a substantial but under-recognized burden of #tuberculosis during pregnancy and postpartum with ~340,000 women affected globally in 2023.
👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#MaternalHealth #GlobalHealth @petedodd24.bsky.social @tb-ipd.bsky.social @lancetgh.bsky.social
👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#MaternalHealth #GlobalHealth @petedodd24.bsky.social @tb-ipd.bsky.social @lancetgh.bsky.social
Global estimates of tuberculosis incidence during pregnancy and postpartum: a rapid review and modelling analysis
Despite known maternal, perinatal, and infant health risks of tuberculosis during pregnancy, global estimates of incidence remain scarce. Existing est…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 8, 2026 at 5:23 PM
Finding TB cases in the pregnant population is daunting yet absolutely critical work. The findings of this paper regarding increased risk to pregnant and postpartum people are instrumental to advocating for TB/ANC programs that find and treat!!
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
As measles rages in S Carolina notice that those responding to this outbreak on the frontlines are pediatricians, family med practitioners, nurses and local public health officials.
Not the wellness influencers and podscasters who discourage vaccination.
Arsonists NEVER put out fires they start
Not the wellness influencers and podscasters who discourage vaccination.
Arsonists NEVER put out fires they start
December 16, 2025 at 11:22 PM
As measles rages in S Carolina notice that those responding to this outbreak on the frontlines are pediatricians, family med practitioners, nurses and local public health officials.
Not the wellness influencers and podscasters who discourage vaccination.
Arsonists NEVER put out fires they start
Not the wellness influencers and podscasters who discourage vaccination.
Arsonists NEVER put out fires they start
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Really missing my #tb colleagues at this time who are no doubt celebrating this great news for TB treatment at @theunion.org this week! www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
Access Restricted
www.telegraph.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Really missing my #tb colleagues at this time who are no doubt celebrating this great news for TB treatment at @theunion.org this week! www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
Meta-analysis of #COVID, #RSV, #flu #vaccines for fall provides 'sea of data' showing efficacy, safety
The large-scale project was conducted by CIDRAP's Vaccine Integrity Project.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...
Photo: US Army Garrison Fort George G. Meade / Flickr cc
The large-scale project was conducted by CIDRAP's Vaccine Integrity Project.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...
Photo: US Army Garrison Fort George G. Meade / Flickr cc
October 29, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Meta-analysis of #COVID, #RSV, #flu #vaccines for fall provides 'sea of data' showing efficacy, safety
The large-scale project was conducted by CIDRAP's Vaccine Integrity Project.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...
Photo: US Army Garrison Fort George G. Meade / Flickr cc
The large-scale project was conducted by CIDRAP's Vaccine Integrity Project.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...
Photo: US Army Garrison Fort George G. Meade / Flickr cc
I shouldn't be shocked at this point but this shocked me - socked me right in the gut
The first African author to win the Nobel in literature, Soyinka has been an outspoken critic of governments worldwide.
Trump administration strips Nigerian Nobel winner Wole Soyinka of US visa
The first African author to win the Nobel in literature, Soyinka has been an outspoken critic of governments worldwide.
bit.ly
October 29, 2025 at 1:17 AM
I shouldn't be shocked at this point but this shocked me - socked me right in the gut
Withdrawal of services currently supported by US bilateral health aid is projected to result in an additional 2.5 million pediatric tuberculosis cases and 340,000 tuberculosis deaths over the next decade.
hsph.harvard.edu/news/u-s-fun...
hsph.harvard.edu/news/u-s-fun...
U.S. funding cuts could result in nearly 9 million child tuberculosis cases, 1.5 million child deaths | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
A new Harvard Chan School and BUSPH study projects that U.S. funding cuts to global health aid will have a catastrophic effect on pediatric TB.
hsph.harvard.edu
October 24, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Withdrawal of services currently supported by US bilateral health aid is projected to result in an additional 2.5 million pediatric tuberculosis cases and 340,000 tuberculosis deaths over the next decade.
hsph.harvard.edu/news/u-s-fun...
hsph.harvard.edu/news/u-s-fun...
Bummed to see this - congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmitted to infants is a leading cause of deafness in children - a maternal vaccine for this virus that is almost universally asymptomatic would be a gamechanger! www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/mode...
Moderna scraps congenital virus program after vaccine shows little protective effect in phase 3
Moderna is halting development of an mRNA vaccine for congenital cytomegalovirus after its candidate failed to protect women from the virus in a large phase 3 trial, the biotech announced in a post | ...
www.fiercebiotech.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Bummed to see this - congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmitted to infants is a leading cause of deafness in children - a maternal vaccine for this virus that is almost universally asymptomatic would be a gamechanger! www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/mode...
I love Baltimore so much. The converged #BaltimoreRunningFestival and #NoKings vibes ✨️ #CharmCity #AbolishICE
October 18, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I love Baltimore so much. The converged #BaltimoreRunningFestival and #NoKings vibes ✨️ #CharmCity #AbolishICE
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.
I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.
I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.
October 11, 2025 at 5:21 PM
They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.
I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.
I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.
So angry and heartbroken I cannot see straight. Grateful for the journalists covering this. Only comforted that #Rubio #Marocco #Musk #Trump will all be burning in hell (or whatever happens to you without a Christian god). apnews.com/article/myan...
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.
apnews.com
October 8, 2025 at 8:48 PM
So angry and heartbroken I cannot see straight. Grateful for the journalists covering this. Only comforted that #Rubio #Marocco #Musk #Trump will all be burning in hell (or whatever happens to you without a Christian god). apnews.com/article/myan...
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
A new Cochrane review pooled >100,000 participants across 14 trials of RSV vaccines:
- In older adults,RSV vaccines ⬇️ RSV-related lower resp illness by ~70%.
- In pregnant people, vaccination halved the risk of infants needing medical care for RSV & ⬇️severe dz by ~74%.
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...
- In older adults,RSV vaccines ⬇️ RSV-related lower resp illness by ~70%.
- In pregnant people, vaccination halved the risk of infants needing medical care for RSV & ⬇️severe dz by ~74%.
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...
RSV vaccines offer vital protection for the most vulnerable, study confirms
A review of 14 clinical trials involving more than 100,000 participants supports widespread RSV vaccination to reduce severe illness and hospitalisations.
www.gavi.org
October 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
A new Cochrane review pooled >100,000 participants across 14 trials of RSV vaccines:
- In older adults,RSV vaccines ⬇️ RSV-related lower resp illness by ~70%.
- In pregnant people, vaccination halved the risk of infants needing medical care for RSV & ⬇️severe dz by ~74%.
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...
- In older adults,RSV vaccines ⬇️ RSV-related lower resp illness by ~70%.
- In pregnant people, vaccination halved the risk of infants needing medical care for RSV & ⬇️severe dz by ~74%.
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
Moldova was able to break from Putin's economic control due in part to USAID projects over a decade ago helping them come into compliance with EU wine regulations and opening up markets so they weren't at the whim of Russia. Imagine the good that might have been done had Musk not gone all chainsaw.
The pro-EU Party of Action & Solidarity has crushed the pro-Russia Patriotic Electoral Bloc in the Moldovan election.
It won 51 seats - an outright majority.
Moldova is now on a trajectory towards EU membership.
A very bad night for Putin, who targeted Moldova with a wave of election propaganda.
It won 51 seats - an outright majority.
Moldova is now on a trajectory towards EU membership.
A very bad night for Putin, who targeted Moldova with a wave of election propaganda.
September 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Moldova was able to break from Putin's economic control due in part to USAID projects over a decade ago helping them come into compliance with EU wine regulations and opening up markets so they weren't at the whim of Russia. Imagine the good that might have been done had Musk not gone all chainsaw.
Struck by the determination that according to the Genocide Convention there are "imposed measures to prevent births within a population." We cannot defend our reproductive rights in the US on one hand and deny the same of those in Gaza on the other. www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds
GENEVA – Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, a...
www.ohchr.org
September 17, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Struck by the determination that according to the Genocide Convention there are "imposed measures to prevent births within a population." We cannot defend our reproductive rights in the US on one hand and deny the same of those in Gaza on the other. www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
Good news! Ring vaccinations against #Ebola have begun in DRC, according to @who.int:
“An initial 400 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine—from the country’s stockpile of 2000 doses prepositioned in the capital Kinshasa—have been delivered to Bulape, one of the current hotspots of the outbreak.”
“An initial 400 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine—from the country’s stockpile of 2000 doses prepositioned in the capital Kinshasa—have been delivered to Bulape, one of the current hotspots of the outbreak.”
Ebola vaccination begins in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Bulape, Democratic Republic of the Congo—Vaccination of frontline health workers and contacts of people infected with Ebola virus disease has begun in Bulape health zone in the Democratic Republic of ...
www.afro.who.int
September 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
🚨 UPDATE on the current COVID vaccine access situation in the US.
Please note that this is based on state laws but different things may be happening on the ground, and some pharmacies are defaulting to federal guidelines instead of state laws.
Please note that this is based on state laws but different things may be happening on the ground, and some pharmacies are defaulting to federal guidelines instead of state laws.
September 6, 2025 at 8:07 PM
🚨 UPDATE on the current COVID vaccine access situation in the US.
Please note that this is based on state laws but different things may be happening on the ground, and some pharmacies are defaulting to federal guidelines instead of state laws.
Please note that this is based on state laws but different things may be happening on the ground, and some pharmacies are defaulting to federal guidelines instead of state laws.
Was so relieved and lucky to get my updated covid and flu shot in the great state of #Maryland at Walgreen's for $0 today. So happy that I bought my pharmacists thank you treats. This is NOT THE CASE for so many Americans that deserve the freedom to not get debilitatingly sick, or infect loved ones.
September 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Was so relieved and lucky to get my updated covid and flu shot in the great state of #Maryland at Walgreen's for $0 today. So happy that I bought my pharmacists thank you treats. This is NOT THE CASE for so many Americans that deserve the freedom to not get debilitatingly sick, or infect loved ones.
🚨 The evidence is clear that vaccines save lives, school vaccine mandates increase coverage, and protect kids and communities 🚨
🧵Florida just announced it will end all vaccine mandates for children to attend school—the first state to do so. This will endanger kids’ health. Here’s a few key points on vaccine mandates. 1/10 www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science...
Florida plans to scrap kid vaccine mandates as HHS employees demand RFK Jr resignation
www.cidrap.umn.edu
September 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
🚨 The evidence is clear that vaccines save lives, school vaccine mandates increase coverage, and protect kids and communities 🚨
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
As we see ANOTHER huge drop in the cost of curing tuberculosis, I am reminded that 1. drugs are not expensive because they're made of platinum or something, and 2. the fruits of activism are often harvested over many years. Thanks to all the folks who made this happen. www.stoptb.org/news/breakin...
Breaking News: Historical Drop of DR-TB Treatment Cost Below $300 After Third Major Cut in 2025 by Stop TB’s Global Drug Facility | Stop TB Partnership
www.stoptb.org
September 3, 2025 at 4:26 PM
As we see ANOTHER huge drop in the cost of curing tuberculosis, I am reminded that 1. drugs are not expensive because they're made of platinum or something, and 2. the fruits of activism are often harvested over many years. Thanks to all the folks who made this happen. www.stoptb.org/news/breakin...
Reposted by Jamie Minchin
This 🧵 is long so please bear with me. It is compiles evidence in a historical timeline on how effective #COVIDVaccines are. When a pandemic ends we quickly and easily forget the tools that got us out of it. So here is my labour day gift to you prompted by this headline.
September 1, 2025 at 10:38 PM
This 🧵 is long so please bear with me. It is compiles evidence in a historical timeline on how effective #COVIDVaccines are. When a pandemic ends we quickly and easily forget the tools that got us out of it. So here is my labour day gift to you prompted by this headline.