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18/11/2003
Gates donates US$10m to fight 'needless' tetanus deaths
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has received a US$10 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fight maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), which kills an estimated 230,000 mothers and babies annually in the poorest and most remote areas of the world.
UNICEF has said that it can "eliminate these needless deaths" with a safe and effective vaccine that has been available in the developed world for more than 70 years.
In order to achieve elimination of MNT worldwide by 2005, UNICEF needs to raise an additional $147 million. An estimated 207 million women still need to be immunized.
“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s financial commitment to the elimination of MNT will help save the lives of millions of newborns and their mothers,” Charles Lyons, president of the US Fund for UNICEF, said.
“Because of the campaign to eliminate MNT and the support of the Gates Foundation, as many as 15,000 lives are saved annually.”
MNT strikes when the bacterial tetanus spores, found in soil everywhere, come into contact with open cuts during childbirth in unsanitary conditions. Within days, tetanus spreads throughout the body, causing spasms, paralyzing stiffness and arching of the spine. Four out of five of the newborn infants and mothers who develop the disease die from it.
The vaccine protects mothers for up to 10 years and their newborn babies for the critical first few months of life.
(gmcg)
UNICEF has said that it can "eliminate these needless deaths" with a safe and effective vaccine that has been available in the developed world for more than 70 years.
In order to achieve elimination of MNT worldwide by 2005, UNICEF needs to raise an additional $147 million. An estimated 207 million women still need to be immunized.
“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s financial commitment to the elimination of MNT will help save the lives of millions of newborns and their mothers,” Charles Lyons, president of the US Fund for UNICEF, said.
“Because of the campaign to eliminate MNT and the support of the Gates Foundation, as many as 15,000 lives are saved annually.”
MNT strikes when the bacterial tetanus spores, found in soil everywhere, come into contact with open cuts during childbirth in unsanitary conditions. Within days, tetanus spreads throughout the body, causing spasms, paralyzing stiffness and arching of the spine. Four out of five of the newborn infants and mothers who develop the disease die from it.
The vaccine protects mothers for up to 10 years and their newborn babies for the critical first few months of life.
(gmcg)
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