Working to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus as a cause of death in developing nations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving $26 million to the U.S. Committee for UNICEF to support the U.N. agency's immunization programs, the New York Times reports.

Almost 250,000 people, mostly babies, died of tetanus in the developing world during 1998, compared to one newborn fatality in the United States during the same period, the Times reports.

The Gates grant will be given through the U.S. Committee, a support group for UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), to support an already-existing campaign to eliminate neonatal tetanus.

"We're down to 57 countries, 27 of which account for 90 percent of cases. But there was no movement on that because the resources weren't there," Charles Lyons, the committee's president, told the Times.

UNICEF predicts that raising $100 million to inoculate 100 million women in the next five years would eliminate neonatal tetanus as a health hazard.

Mothers can be infected with tetanus through unsanitary conditions during gynecological procedures or childbirth, the Times reports. Babies can be infected during the cutting of the umbilical cord.

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