Progress towards the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus

摘要

In the late 1980s, the World Health Organization estimated that about 787 000 new-born babies died from tetanus within the first 28 days of their lives. Following progress in some Member States, in 1989,¹ the World Health Assembly called for the elimination of neonatal tetanus (NT) by 1995. By 1999,² 104 of 161 developing countries had achieved elimination. The global maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination (MNTE) initiative was launched by WHO, UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1999, and these organizations jointly continue to spearhead the efforts to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) by 2015, the target date for worldwide elimination of the disease. In line with the global targets, the WHO African Region developed strategic approaches to accelerate the achievement of MNTE in Member States and supported them to develop and implement national plans including validation of the achievement of elimination through neonatal mortality surveys.