Bandim Health Project

The Bandim Health Project works with population based health research in one of the world's poorest countries, Guinea-Bissau in West Africa.

Bandim Health Project

Projecto de Saúde Bandim
Abbreviation	BHP
Formation	1978
Founder	Peter Aaby
Type	Non-governmental organization
Location	Guinea-Bissau
Membership	The INDEPTH Network
Leader	Peter Aaby
National Research Coordinator	Amabélia Rodrigues
Parent organization	Statens Serum Institut
Affiliations	University of Southern Denmark Center for Vitamins and Vaccines Centre for International Health Copenhagen University Aarhus University
Staff	150
Website	www.bandim.org

Group members have made strong claims about the non-specific effect of vaccines, but these claims have been described as the result of questional research methods.^[1]

11°50′43.64″N 15°35′45.42″W

History

The Bandim Health Project was initiated in 1978 by Peter Aaby. The project is currently based on collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health in Guinea-Bissau, the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, and researchers affiliated to The University of Southern Denmark, as well as the University of Aarhus, Denmark.^{[citation needed]}

In 2012, the Danish National Research Foundation funded the establishment of the Center of Excellence, The Research Center for Vitamins and Vaccines (CVIVA) based on the Bandim Health Project and its research into non-specific effects of vaccines.^{[citation needed]}

Fields of research

The Bandim Health Project works with population based health research, focusing on women and children. The project's fields of research include:^{[citation needed]}

• Vaccines, both their specific effects on the targeted diseases, and in particular their potential non-specific effects on morbidity and mortality.
• Other health interventions, including assessment of the total impact on mortality of new interventions or changes in existing policies.
• Infectious diseases, e.g. measles, diarrhoea, rotavirus, respiratory infections, malaria, HIV, HTLV, and Tuberculosis.
• Nutrition, including micronutrients such as vitamin A supplementation, and breast-feeding.
• Humanitarian aid.

Questionable research practice

A 2025 article in Vaccine said that strong claims made by Benn and Aaby about non-specific vaccine effects were not supported by the evidence presented: "We were surprised to find several instances of questionable research practices, such as unpublished primary outcomes, outcome switching, reinterpretation of trials based on statistically fragile subgroup analyses, and frequent promotion of cherry-picked secondary findings as causal, even when primary outcomes yielded null results. Sample size calculations appeared to be driven by unwarranted optimism regarding effect-sizes and event rates leading to underpowered studies".^[1]

The organization

The Bandim Health Project is led by Peter Aaby. The National Research Coordinator is Amabélia Rodrigues. Since the project's foundation in 1978, more than 700 scientific articles have been published, and more than 40 PhD or doctoral degrees and 13 Masters of International Health degrees have been obtained by researchers employed by the project.^{[citation needed]}

Affiliations

Bandim Health Project is placed in Guinea-Bissau and also has a small department at Statens Serum Institut in Denmark. Bandim Health Project is also affiliated with University of Southern Denmark, where Peter Aaby is an adjunct professor and Christine Benn holds a professorship in Global Health.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Non-specific effect of vaccines
• Statens Serum Institut
• Guinea-Bissau
• Peter Aaby