NW Kiwanis along with other Kiwanis clubs have raised funds to vaccinate over 16,000 women of child bearing age. Kiwanis Clubs are leading this effort. Our club is proud of what has been accomplished. But we still have much to do. Although UNICEF and its partners have eliminated the disease in 35 countries since 1999, including Sierra Leone, Iraq, Cameroon and China, MNT still remains a deadly threat in 24 countries.
Surveys conducted by The World Health Organization have shown that Madagascar has eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT). More newborns and mothers’ lives are now free from the anguish of tetanus. Kiwanis received this message from Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF “Thank you, Kiwanis, for your continued commitment to the mothers, babies and families served by The Eliminate Project. Your passion and drive to deliver urgently needed funds to the countries still at-risk of this terrible disease will ensure that no mother has to worry about losing her baby to tetanus.”