This week is the first ever World Immunization Week—an international event created to raise awareness about the importance of immunization. Besides the protection that immunization gives against childhood and maternal illnesses, it is also important to vaccinate during an emergency: like a war, a natural disaster, or a refugee crisis.
UNICEF is the world’s largest buyer of vaccines for the world’s poorest countries. In 2010, UNICEF supplied 2.5 billion doses of vaccines to 99 countries, and reached 58% of the world’s children. But still, an estimated 1.7 million children died from vaccine-preventable diseases in 2008 before reaching their fifth birthday.

Recently, I was honored to join our colleagues from Kiwanis International at a special event during the 2012 Kiwanis International Council in New Orleans that included more than 250 global Kiwanis leaders. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta was the keynote speaker at a special fundraising dinner for The Eliminate Project. It was fascinating to learn of Ms. Rao Gupta’s background and how it has informed her life’s work to address the social injustices suffered by women and families.

Our family has committed a pledge of US$1 million to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to fight MNT to save and protect thousands of children like Dani. We believe The Eliminate Project is our calling and could not find a better reason to stretch ourselves and give. We are honored to be asked to get involved and excited to commit our own resources to support Kiwanis and UNICEF’s partnership to eliminate MNT.

I participated in a fascinating site visit to this Southeast Asian nation earlier this month with members of Kiwanis International. Kiwanis has joined the U.S. Fund, UNICEF and other partners to help eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) in Cambodia and around the globe, and this trip gave us a chance to witness a UNICEF-supported immunization campaign that is helping make this vital goal a reality.

If you’ve heard about Yemen at all recently, the news likely hasn’t been good. Two suicide bombings last month-likely the work of Al-Qaeda-killed 25 people in the north and terrified a region already battered by unrest. Despite a ceasefire, clashes between militants and government forces in the northern region of Sa’ada continue to displace thousands of people. And last year’s thwarted Christmas day underwear bomber received training in Yemen.

Tetanus vaccinations at church? That’s what “health care delivery” can look like when you’re at the very last mile of eliminating a disease.