Today marks the official launch of the Pampers and UNICEF 'Gift of Life' Campaign with support from actress and mum-of-three, Natascha McElhone. I was invited down to London by PR company Fleishman Hillard for a bloggers lunch where we met with Natascha and representatives from both Pampers and UNICEF.
Natascha McElhone with representatives from Pampers and UNICEF
Natascha McElhone with the Midlands Parent Bloggers
The representatives spoke to us about the campaign's background and the phenomenal success it has had since it started in 2006. They are keen to build on that success and want our support to achieve the campaign's goal to eliminate maternal and newborn tetanus by 2012.
Natascha spoke passionately about her recent trip to Angola where she witnessed the devastating effects of tetanus and the poor conditions in which many mothers have to give birth, highlighted by a mood video of her trip that we were shown.
Speaking of her trip, and support for Pampers and UNICEF, Natascha said, "As a mother in the UK, I've never had to think about the devastating effect of tetanus. However I was shocked to learn that it is still killing thousands of mothers and their babies in less industrialised countries. Once newborn tetanus has been contracted there is no real cure and within days of exposure it can lead to a fast and painful death. I am proud to be supporting the Pampers and UNICEF campaign to help eliminate newborn and maternal tetanus and give these women and their babies a chance to live a happy, healthy life."
Natascha on her recent Angola trip
Tetanus kills approximately 128,000 mothers and babies around the world, each year.
It is not something we have to worry about in the UK, but in developing countries the situation is very different.
Tetanus is known as the "silent killer", the true extent of its death toll is still not fully known, since the population at the highest risk of contracting the disease tends to live in rural areas with little or no access to health care services or education.
It is caused by bacteria that live in the soil. Women are often infected as a result of unhygienic birth practises, such as cutting the umbilical cord with unsterile instruments or handling it with dirty hands. One of the mothers Natascha met had lost two babies to the disease.
However, such dreadful deaths can be prevented through simple injections given during pregnancy, to protect both the mother and unborn child. Already Pampers has been able to provide funding for a life-saving dose of the Tetanus vaccine for a mother and her baby every two seconds amounting to over 200 million tetanus vaccines donated to UNICEF.
As the UNICEF team explained, it is possible that the disease can be eradicated completely by 2012, with our help.
So what can we do?
It is simple.
During October, November and December 2009, for every Pampers product purchased with the '1 pack = 1 Life=Saving Vaccine' logo, Pampers will provide UNICEF with the funding for one life-saving tetanus vaccine to help protect a mother and baby in need.
The Gift of Life campaign aims to raise a further 100 million vaccines this year to help eliminate this deadly disease.
All we need to do is buy a Pampers pack with the '1 pack = 1 Life-Saving Vaccine' logo.
Pampers and UNICEF will do the rest.
External Links:
Irish bloggers: Manic Mammy, Hot Cross Mum, Dad.ie, Mummy Maps
UK bloggers: Rosie Scribble, New Mummy, Bringing up Charlie, Cafe Bebe, Babyccino Blog
To learn more about the campaign and donate now, click here to visit the Pampers/UNICEF site.
