ArticleBMJ open2026
Carbon emissions of a vaccine trial implemented in Uganda: retrospective assessment to identify actions to enhance researchers' environmental responsibilities.
Article in BMJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02991495 (A Randomized, Blinded Non-inferiority Trial on the Immunogenicity and Safety of Fractional Doses of Yellow Fever Vaccines in Kenya and Uganda), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Randomized, Blinded Non-inferiority Trial on the Immunogenicity and Safety of Fractional Doses of Yellow Fever Vaccines in Kenya and Uganda
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo estimate the carbon footprint of a vaccine trial conducted in Uganda and to identify opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in future trials.
designRetrospective carbon footprint assessment of all trial-related activities conducted in Uganda (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02991495), following the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the guidance provided by the Low Carbon Clinical Trials Group.
settingThe activities related to the yellow fever vaccine fractional dose trial implemented in Mbarara, with contributions from international collaborators.
participantsThe study assessed processes; no participants have been included.
methodsTrial activities were retrospectively quantified and converted into a greenhouse gas estimate using publicly available emission factors. The boundaries of the study were defined to cover the set-up, implementation and close-out phases. Emissions were categorised by source, including personnel, travel, medical supply and laboratory.
resultsThe vaccine trial produced an estimated 224.66 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO DISCUSSION: This study highlights multiple opportunities to reduce the carbon emissions of clinical trials. These include already recognised actions such as higher use of solar energy and reduction of international travel. Nevertheless, to improve sustainability of trials, attention should be given to all controllable processes across the trial lifecycle and not solely to the main drivers of emissions. For this, environmental considerations should be present from the initial trial conception phase, involving for instance decisions about the number of trial visits and where these are conducted and taking rational decisions about the long-term storage of samples.
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