Kirkland Kiwanis has joined Kiwanis International and UNICEF in an effort to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. Neonatal Tetanus kills one baby every nine minutes, nearly 60,000 newborns every year.

Kirkland Kiwanis has joined in the three-year program to provide an estimated 387 million doses of the tetanus vaccine to women of child bearing age over the next five years. The Kirkland Club is encouraging everyone to help in this worthwhile cause.

Donations can be made to the Kirkland Kiwanis Foundation, Eliminate Project for a 501c(3) tax credit, at 525 Kirkland Way, Kirkland, WA 98033.

A significant number of women also die because of this condition. This is particularly common in rural areas where most baby deliveries are at home without adequate sterile procedures or poor medical infra-structure.

The effects of the disease are excruciating. Tiny newborns suffer repeated, painful convulsions and extreme sensitivity to light and touch.

Tetanus is an acute infectious disease, mostly fatal, which enters the body through wounds or open sores and in the umbilicus following non-sterile child delivery. Most babies who get the disease die.

It is characterized by spasmodic contractions, convulsions and rigidity of some or all of the voluntary muscles, especially the jaw, face, and neck.

To eliminate MNT, more than 61 million mothers and their future babies must be immunized. This requires vaccines, syringes, safe storage, transportation, thousands of skilled staff and more.

It will take $110 million and the dedicated work by UNICEF and all of the Kiwanis Clubs of the world.