Immunization Campaign for Neo-Natal Tetanus in Cameroon

Shantha Bloemen: In the forests of northwest Cameroon Bridget Apum is deepened
through the graveside of her granddaughter Aya. Deep in thought
over life lost. Aya died of tetanus at just over two weeks old. All
that remains is just a small amount of gravel under which she was
buried.

She contracted the disease during delivery and her mother is now
seriously ill and has been taken to a distant hospital. While easily
preventable through vaccination and in-clinic hygienic delivery
practices, maternal neonatal tetanus is still a major cause of
maternal and neonatal deaths. It takes the lives of thousands of
mothers and newborns each year.

Most neonatal tetanus develops through unhygienic cutting and
care of the umbilical cord during delivery usually by unskilled
birth attendants. This is what happened to baby Aya.

Bridget Apum: My daughter went in to labor in the evening but there was no car to
take her to the clinic to deliver, so we called the local midwife and
she came and delivered the baby. She cut the umbilical cord with a
razorblade from the market.

Shantha Bloemen: In 2002, the Cameroonian government began a national plan to
eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. But the vaccination is a
three-step procedure and while coverage for the first stage was
high, many women never returned for their second or third shots.

The goals were to reach at least 90% of women with the second
shot, at least 80% of the women with the third and ultimately to
eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus in Cameroon.

Dr. Belyse Halmata: And now it’s very important to finish with the districts that are still
at high risk of tetanus. Those are districts where cases of tetanus
have been notified.

Shantha Bloemen: The campaign targeted women between the ages of 15 and 49 and
was carried out at health centers, village gathering points and even
schools. UNICEF, through a fundraising partnership with Pampers,
supplied the vaccines, provided logistical support to get them to
remote areas and helped to train health workers who were
dispatched to makeshift vaccination centers

Esther Neba: Her baby that she’s carrying in the womb. And the woman who is
not protected against tetanus, that baby is exposed. So we find it
very necessary, very important for women of childbearing ages to
protect that against tetanus.

Shantha Bloemen: The UNICEF-Pampers maternal neonatal tetanus campaign has
raised 300 million vaccinations to date and carry on distributes 21
countries around the world including Cameroon.

But for baby Aya, it has all come too late. Her grandmother tidies
the rumor, which she born and then just over two weeks later died.
If all goes to plan no more babies will die of neonatal tetanus in
Cameroon and normal families will suffer lost through this fatal
yet preventable disease.

This is Shantha Bloemen reporting for UNICEF Television. For
more information go to UNICEF.org. Unite for Children.