The Slovakian collection to help children in developing countries UNICEF Blue Button Week probably needs no introduction. Since 2005, when the collection took place for the first time, UNICEF has been able to help thousands of children in different corners of the world thanks to the support of Slovak donors. Proceeds from last year's fundraiser went to transport neonatal tetanus vaccines and vaccinations in Laos in Southeast Asia. Tetanus, which disappeared from developed countries a long time ago, unnecessarily causes the death of 128,000 newborns and 30,000 mothers in less developed countries. As if tetanus spores do not exist here, they are everywhere, but we are vaccinated.
Who once met a tetanus, will never forget
Tetanus is sometimes called the "disease at the end of the world" because it affects the poorest who live in poor hygienic conditions and without access to basic health care, which includes vaccination. The disease enters the body through open wounds, especially during traditional home births. A toxin begins to be produced, which attacks the central nervous system and the victim dies in excruciating pain.
In a newborn, convulsions cause him to be unable to suck breast milk, contact with light, sound or even the smallest caress of his mother hurts him. Children often die stiffly bent backwards, in the worst cases the spasm breaks their spine. "Medicine does not know a crueler death. Whoever has met with tetanus once will never forget it," says François Gasse, UNICEF's chief expert on the problem of neonatal and maternal tetanus, who has worked in Afghanistan, Zambia and Equatorial Guinea. "I saw a patient infected with tetanus: chained to a hospital bed, he was crushing a rubber insert between his teeth; the slightest sound or light caused violent convulsions that twisted his spine into a menacing arch with vertebra-crushing force," added the doctor.
Laos is one of the least developed countries in the world. It has a population of less than 6 million, but one in four lives on less than one dollar a day. It belongs to 47 countries in the world where neonatal and maternal tetanus has not yet been eliminated. In order for this to happen, 900,000 women of reproductive age must be vaccinated.
Full vaccination, i.e. three doses of the vaccine (three vaccines), can protect a woman for 15 years and each of her children during this period for the most critical first three months of life. Then the newborn must also be vaccinated. The vaccine itself is cheap, the cost of transporting it from the certified manufacturer to the vaccinated mother or newborn is somewhat higher.
1 euro = 2 vaccines
However, in terms of one vaccine, we are talking about 50 cents. This amount will cover the costs of transporting and storing the vaccine at a stable temperature anywhere in mountainous Laos (by foot, car, boat, donkey or tractor), as well as the organization of the vaccination campaign and the actual vaccination of people of various ethnicities scattered around the country, as well as the subsequent collection and disposal of used syringes. It is a cheap and accessible solution that poor Laos with insufficient access to health care, nutrition or education really needs.
In 2009, UNICEF Slovakia collected more than 199,000 euros to cover the costs associated with tetanus vaccination in Laos. It is an amazing amount, but it is still not enough to cover the costs of 3 x 900,000 vaccines. The simple equation "1 euro = 2 vaccines" will not clarify the complexity or precision of UNICEF's work, nor will it say that UNICEF respects cultural differences and natural laws when vaccinating, nor will you photograph it in an interesting way, such as a newly built school or children playing with a new ball. But the important thing is that "1 euro = 2 vaccines" saves the lives of newborns and their mothers.
The article was published in the Development Aid - Spring 2010 newsletter. It is published by Platforma mimovládnych rozvojových organizácií (MVRO), which is an association of legal entities - an umbrella organization of 31 (23 regular members and 8 observers) Slovak non-governmental organizations that deal mainly with foreign development and humanitarian aid.