Until I read about The Eliminate Project, I didn't know the meaning of MNT. MNT stands for Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus, a disease that robs parents of 60,000 children each year. The disease occurs mostly in developing nations. 

Since 1989, UNICEF and the World Health Organization have been garnering support worldwide to eliminate MNT through education and vaccination.  Recently, Kiwanis International, in association with UNICEF, joined the fight against this disease that heavily impacts countries such as India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Chad, Angola, Laos, and many sub-Saharan countries.  Sadly, according to Dr. Francoise Gasse, MD, an authority on MNT, the number of 60,000 deaths in children per year is probably significantly under-reported.

What is MNT and why should MNT matter to us in the West?  First, Tetanus is caused "when inert spores of the Clostridium tetani bacteria found in soil, animal feces, decaying material and human intestines, enter the body through an open sore or puncture wound. The spores grow and release a neurotoxin called tetanospasmin. This attacks the Central Nervous System (CNS) and results in spasms which begin in the jaw muscles and progress to more violent muscle spasms throughout the body."[1]  Dr. Gasse points out that "educational efforts need to reach larger audiences to ensure that MNT receives the concern it warrants"[2]  or other high visibility child killers, like malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea will command the resources required to eradicate MNT. 

The only good news about MNT is it is not contagious in the sense that a virus is contagious, but it affects marginalized families with children in remote, rural areas with poor sanitation and the need for health services. In the cases of newborn tetanus, infants contract the disease frequently due to unhygienic birth practices--unwashed hands of a midwife or unsterilized instruments or dressings used in the process.  Mothers are also at risk during an unhygienic birth process.

If, as it has been noted, "Tetanus can cause one of the most painful deaths known to man,"[3]  certainly, MNT can cause a death no adult would want to experience, nor to have an infant or child experience.  While it is difficult for us in America to grasp the extent and magnitude of poverty in some developing countries, because we have so much and are so fortunate that primitive conditions, such as those which affect remote, rural areas where water may not be clean, are unthinkable. It is reassuring to know that there are ways we can help support projects like The Eliminate Project to continue vaccinations, immunizing women of child-bearing age, and providing health education and hygienic delivery and cord care practices to under-served populations.

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