In 2000 the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and WHO set the goal of eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) by 2005 and drew up a strategic plan with this objective. MNT elimination is defined as the achievement of under one case of neonatal tetanus (NT) per 1000 live births annually in every district of a country. In 1990, by which date MNT had been eliminated in 76 developing countries, it was estimated that there were 560 000 cases. By 2000 there were estimated to be 238 000 cases, and 104 developing countries had achieved elimination