Selena Gomez blogs about Kiwanis

Kiwanis has changed the world for the better, working with UNICEF and other partners to tackle Iodine Deficiency Disorder. Now Kiwanis is deciding what their next Worldwide Service Project will be and I hope they choose Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT).

Kiwanis believes that every child deserves to live a life without the threat of illness. UNICEF stands with them in this belief. If UNICEF is chosen as the partner for the next Worldwide Service Project, together Kiwanis and UNICEF will help save the lives of mothers and their babies from Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT).

Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) kills one baby every four minutes. MNT can abruptly turn the joy of new life into wrenching tragedy. Its effects are excruciating — tiny newborns suffer repeated, painful convulsions and become hypersensitive to light, sound and touch. Even a mother’s soothing voice and comforting caress are unbearable for the infant. Few babies survive. Tetanus may claim the mother’s life as well.

In impoverished countries, where women have little access to health care, many are forced to give birth in an unsanitary conditions. Tetanus spores are found everywhere — in the air, soil and contaminated objects. Bacteria can enter the mother’s body through open wounds and pass through a newly cut umbilical cord. Once the baby is infected, a lethal toxin attacks his or her nervous system.

Tetanus is highly preventable. Three doses of a low cost vaccine can protect mothers and babies.
If chosen, this project would raise 110 million dollars to help eliminate this deadly disease and save 129 million mothers and their future babies.

Ask Kiwanis to eliminate Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus – a killer disease that can be prevented for $1.80! Tell them UNICEF can help at http://sites.kiwanis.org/Kiwanis/en/worldwide-service-project/wsp-idd/joindiscussion.aspx