A recent campaign run by Pampers UK to help protect vulnerable mums and their new babies against tetanus has delivered outstanding results.

Today Pampers UK and UNICEF announced the results of their joint campaign to provide tetanus vaccinations to help protect vulnerable mothers and their new babies against maternal and neonatal tetanus. The 2 month campaign ran during November and December last year in the UK and has resulted in an amazing 7 461 234 vaccines being donated to UNICEF.

Tetanus is still a major global public health problem in developing countries. An estimated 500,000 cases still occur every year, killing approximately 200,000 young babies and 30,000 mothers per year.

The true extent of the tetanus death toll is not known since populations at highest risk of tetanus tend to live in rural areas and have little access to health care and birth registration. Many newborns and mothers die at home and neither the birth nor the death is reported. For this reason, tetanus is often called the "silent killer." Following administration of tetanus vaccine to the mother, antibodies pass to the foetus across the placenta to provide protection against maternal and neonatal tetanus for both mother and baby. To protect the newborn, women should receive at least two doses of tetanus vaccine at least four weeks apart, with the last dose at least two weeks before delivery.

For every pack of Pampers nappies purchased during the campaign, Pampers UK donated the funding equivalent to one tetanus vaccination to UNICEF for distribution to the world's most vulnerable mothers through UNICEF's immunisation programmes.

David Bull, UNICEF UK Executive Director, said: "UNICEF is extremely grateful to Pampers for their investment in UNICEF's tetanus immunisation programmes around the world. Innovative partnerships such as this are invaluable in raising the profile of this killer disease and helping UNICEF to provide the support needed to save thousands of mothers' and babies' lives each year."