UNICEF & MNT

UNICEF and its partners have combated maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) across the globe through education, outreach, and mass immunization drives. In addition to delivering tetanus vaccines to even the remotest areas by any means necessary — including on horseback and even on foot — UNICEF has trained traditional midwives and birth attendants in safe birthing practices and distributed safe birthing kits. To help stem the tide of MNT, UNICEF has also supported prenatal care and a wide range of other maternal and newborn health services.

Since 1999, UNICEF and its partners have immunized 90 million women in 50 countries with two or more doses of the vaccine and have eliminated the disease in 18 countries. Countries that have recently validated the elimination of MNT include Turkey, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. MNT still remains a deadly threat in 39 countries.

To learn more about UNICEF’s efforts to combat MNT, please visit: http://www.unicef.org/health/index_43509.html