The Afghan Health Ministry on Saturday announced it is enlisting the help of illiterate women in its campaign to immunize 4.7 million Afghan mothers against tetanus by 2005.

The unprecedented program has the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization and is part of a global effort to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.  The disease kills 30,000 women and 200,000 infants every year in developing countries, according to UNICEF.

About 80 percent of the 840 volunteers in this round of immunizations, the third round this year, are illiterate women from communities in Kabul province, where they will be working to immunize nearly 100,000 women.  Their performance, UNICEF said, will influence the nationwide expansion of the campaign during the next two years and help UNICEF to gauge how illiterate women can assist vaccination drives, especially in remote areas where clinics are scarce.

Afghan health officials said women vaccinators have demonstrated their vital role in reaching mothers in other immunization activities, such as those against polio and measles.

The U.N. agency said almost half of all deaths among Afghan women of childbearing age are related to pregnancy and childbirth, with about 1,600 women dying for every 100,000 live births, one of the highest rates in the world.  It also said that over one-fourth of neonatal deaths in Afghanistan are caused by tetanus.  The ministry hopes to vaccinate 740,000 women this year (Xinhua News Agency, May 3).

The initiative will incorporate the use of a groundbreaking tool known as Uniject, a prefilled needle and syringe used by personnel with minimal medical training (U.N. release, May 1).