Mass tetanus vaccination targets women

The United Nations Children's agency, UNICEF began a week-long nationwide campaign on Wednesday to immunise four million Afghan females aged 15-45 against tetanus. Maternal and neo-natal tetanus (MNT) is one of the biggest threats to a mother and her newborn child's life in many countries of the world. According to UNICEF, worldwide MNT is responsible for the deaths of 30,000 women and 200,000 infants in developing countries each year. Neo-natal tetanus is often contracted through dirty conditions during the birth. "The fact that 90 per cent of Afghan women give birth at home, without trained attendants, the campaign to protect women from this disease is critical," Edward Carwardine a UNICEF spokesman, told IRIN on Wednesday. The first of three campaigns to be held in 2004 was launched by deploying 57,000 vaccinators throughout the country, except four cities that were covered in 2003. "By vaccinating every women of child-bearing age three times in 12 months, we can provide five years of protection against tetanus, as well as up to two months of protection for the unborn child," Carwardine explained. In a 2003 study by UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that almost half of all deaths among Afghan females aged between 15 and 49 were a direct result of pregnancy and childbirth. UNICEF has said these deaths could have been prevented if women at risk were protected with the tetanus toxoid (TT) vaccine and if hygienic birth practices were observed during labour and delivery. Syed Ashrafuddin, head of the immunisation programme at the ministry of public works, told IRIN teams of three vaccinators including at least one women, were implementing the campaign by simply going door-to-door. "We have to access women in their homes as most of them cannot travel to the nearest health centre," he said. According to UNICEF, tetanus vaccine can be administered with only basic training and no professional medical experience. "We can use illiterate women and non-medical personnel to deliver the vaccine, which increases the pool of female vaccinators that we can turn to," the UNICEF spokesman said. In addition to the vaccination campaign, UNICEF said teams were out informing households about the importance of vaccination. "Essentially we are trying to convey the message that too many women die needlessly from this disease, along with their newborn infants, and that is important to protect oneself against tetanus," he said.