Kiwanis Club takes on tetanus in Third World

Healdsburg service organization celebrates 90 years with fight of deadly  disease
This year marks 90 years of service for the Healdsburg Kiwanis Club and as part of their fundraising efforts, the club is joining their parent organization in a worldwide fight to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.
The humanitarian relief effort known as “The Eliminate Project” was created in 2010 to help women and children in more than 30 developing countries fight the deadly disease, referred to as MNT, that kills more than 60,000 newborns a year.
The disease, which is contracted through unhygienic childbirth practices in areas with poor medical infrastructure, is a painful and lethal form of tetanus that can be prevented by a simple series of immunizations.
When Healdsburg Kiwanis Club President Loretta Strong attended a Kiwanis Club International convention that introduced the project, she made it one of her goals to get the Healdsburg club more involved in the parent organization and their mission.
“What really hit me is that, as a child, there is noticeable concern, anxiety, if you stepped on a nail and you would have to get your tetanus shot or booster shot…and this is the United States so we have immediate access to medical services, but this is not true in the developing world and during the process of giving birth it is often very crude and very non-hygienic and since tetanus is presence in the soil everywhere in the world, the birth attendants use rocks, pieces of wood, rusty tools, anything they can to cut the cord, and the ensuing result is this violent, excruciatingly painful death for the infants over about a seven day period,” said Strong.
Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus, MNT, causes repeated convulsions and a sensitivity to light and touch days before death. The goal of Kiwanis International and the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is to immunize more than 100 million mothers-to-be to prevent the disease in both mother and unborn children.
“The only cure that can come is with prevention and inoculation, and this is where we can all help because the cost to inoculate and forever protect a birth-age woman is $1.80, and that blew me away because it is such an insignificant amount of money, it’s less than a daily hit of Starbucks,” Strong said.
At the roll out of The Eliminate Project in 2010, Kiwanis International set a goal to raise $110 million by 2015. Originally they targeted 39 countries for eradication and with the $27 million that has already been raised they have 30 countries remaining that need assistance.
“Here I am again, as president in my second term and one of my goals this time is to raise $3,000 for project eliminate. We have already raised $1,600 just from our member donations,” said Strong. “Not only do I want to meet that goal but I would like to exceed it if I could.”
Community members interested in donating to The Eliminate Project can send a check made out to Healdsburg Kiwanis Club, c/o Raymond James 133 North Street, Healdsburg, CA. 95448 or call 473-8033.
The Healdsburg Kiwanis Club is a non-profit community service club that raises more than $50,000 a year for local youth education programs in Healdsburg. New members are always welcomed. Meetings are held every Tuesday at the Villa Chanticleer at noon. The forth Tuesday of the month the group meets at the Villa at 7 p.m. The club will celebrate their 90th anniversary in November.