ELIMINATE – Kiwanis eliminating maternal/neonatal tetanus

Kiwanis, UNICEP join forces to save 129 million mothers and newborns. The Eliminate Project will protect mothers and babies from Tetanus.

At the July 6 Chatham Kiwanis meeting, club President Rich Behling donned his ELIMINATE-labeled hat and overviewed the new Kiwanis World Service Project. The ELIMINATE project was introduced at the July 2010 Las Vegas Kiwanis International Convention. The project is similar in scope to the IDD project carried out several years ago. The objective is to eliminate Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus (MNT), with affects 129 million people each year in third-world countries. Pregnant women get tetanus and when the baby is born it suffers agonizing pain and dies within 2 weeks. Only three 60-cent shots ($1.80 total) would save 60,000 babies from this terrible death every year. Kiwanis is partnering with UNICEF - Kiwanis will raise the money and UNICEF will distribute the shots. Total cost is $110,000,000.

Nancy Boucher reported that Lauren Kapsky (former CHS Key Club officer and Chatham Kiwanis Scholarship winner) was a member of the project selection committee. Several projects were analyzed leading up to selection of the ELIMINATE project.

Rich shared information brought back from the convention with President-Elect Dick Plambeck so he can implement the project in our club next year. A regular Kiwanis meeting program including video is planned for November.

Click on this Kiwanis link to learn more about ELIMINATE.