Salma Hayek teams up with Pampers and UNICEF for "One Pack = One Vaccine" global initiative

Salma Hayek isn’t taking her now role as a mom lightly! She’s so grateful for her daughter, Valentina Paloma’s health that she has teamed up with Pampers to help ensure mom’s all over the world can get access to life-saving vaccinations. The campaign, "One Pack = One Vaccine," is part of a global initiative with UNICEF that works to provide tetanus vaccinations for moms in developing nations worldwide. Salma serves as the North American ambassador for the Pampers/UNICEFpartnership in the U.S. and Canada to help raise awareness of thisprogram in TV commercials, print and online ads, as well as personal appearances.  She will be paid an undisclosed honorarium for her participation.

Salma says,

In our own small way, this is an opportunity for moms like me here in North America to help other mothers on a global level. I’m honored to work with Pampers and UNICEF to help raise awareness of this important program.

From April 1 through June 30, 2008, for every specially marked pack of Pampers product purchased in the U.S. and Canada, Pampers will provide UNICEF with funding for one tetanus vaccine for a mother in need worldwide.  The participating products include the Pampers Stages diapers and wipes: Swaddlers, Swaddlers Sensitive, Cruisers and Easy Ups diapers, and Sensitive Wipes, Swipers and Clean n’ Go Wipes.

The immensely successful program, which launched in 2006 in the UK and expanded in 2007 to other countries in Western Europe, and debuts in the U.S. and Canada in spring 2008, has already helped provide UNICEF with funding for more than 25 million life-saving tetanus vaccines distributed throughout Africa and Asia. The goal for the North American campaign is to provide at least 27 million more vaccines, which would bring the total global donations to more than 50 million vaccines.

Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, explains why providing access to the vaccine is so important,

Childhood immunization is routine in the United States, but each year 140,000 infants and 30,000 women in developing countries die from tetanus – a life threatening, but preventable disease which can be contracted during childbirth. While significant progress has been made – last year Egypt and Zambia marked the elimination of tetanus – the disease is still a threat to women and children in more than 45 countries.  I applaud Salma and Pampers for joining UNICEF in the fight against tetanus and helping us to move closer to our goal of completely eliminating the disease.

Photo courtesy of Pampers

Will this program make you more likely to buy Pampers diapers?

Comments

We already only buy Pampers. They seem so much more comfortable. When the baby pees, they get squishy instead of stiff like some brands. But this makes me feel a lot better about spending so much money on them. And with two babies in diapers, it’s a lot! I’m glad Salma is bringing attention to this.

- Stephanie on January 13th, 2008

I don’t understand how this vaccine will help prevent tetanus in newborns. It is not a communicable disease. So, whether the mom has the vaccine or not is irrelevant to her newborn. And, once the baby is born, isn’t it too late to avoid neonatal tetanus via vaccination?

I’m not against Salma Hayek and Pampers trying to help newborns in the third world; I’m just questioning whether this will be the best way to help (and, whether it wouldn’t be more helpful to provide education about keeping umbilical cord stumps clean, and not putting tetanus-laced dirt clumps on the umbilical stumps).

This isn’t really the tetanus vaccine, either–if given to newborns, it would be the DTaP–so, they can’t have it until 6 weeks old–at an age past the time when the infant would have contracted neonatal tetanus.

Anyway, I’m just concerned that this is another example of something that sounds really good on paper, but might not be the best way to combat this particular threat against newborns.

- Beth on January 13th, 2008

If they weren’t so heavily perfumed, I’d consider it.
I know it’s the commercial reality we live in, but something about this campaign makes me queasy. I’ll make my own donation.

- Tannit on January 13th, 2008

Will Salma be donating a percentage (or all) of her “undisclosed honorarium” to UNICEF or another charity? I suppose she has a right to get paid for her participation, but I doubt she needs the money herself.

- Ava on January 13th, 2008

the purpose of vaccinating pregnant women with the tetanus vaccine is to prevent maternal and fetal death. should a pregnant woman get tetanus, her and her unborn baby would die. so whether or not the mother has had the vaccine is very relevant to her baby. the tetanus vaccine is safe to receive during pregnancy. also, to say nothing positive/negative about her raising awareness of this issue and only question what she will do with her “honorarium” is completely unnecessary.

- sara on January 13th, 2008

What does Salma Hayek’s money have to do with life saving vaccinations for people not privileged enough to live the life you do? Salma is not obligated to tell anybody how she spends her money. It’s wonderful for Pampers to do this. I always used Pampers when I was buying diapers.

- Carol on January 13th, 2008

Very nice of salma to do this. She along with her very good friend Ashley judd do a lot for UNICEF, and salma is one of the most down to earth nice celebrities IMO. She gets attention for good things, not bad ones.

- adriana on January 13th, 2008

What a wonderful thing to do. In case you guys didn’t know, Salma has been a long-time advocate of UNICEF, as well as many other international charities. She founded the Salma Hayek Foundation, which deals with domestic violence.

What I want to know is, why do only Angelina Jolie’s humanitarian efforts make the news? I love Angelina, what she does is fantastic, but the media makes it seem like she’s the only celebrity who is giving her time and money to a worthy cause. You’d be surprised how many celebrities are underrated and under-reported in the humanitarian department.

- Nausicaa on January 13th, 2008

I use cloth and cloth wipes, but if I used sposies this campaign probably would make me more likely to buy Pampers.

- Bess on January 13th, 2008

I had a chance to read something on the WHO’s Web site, and saw this: “Following administration of TT (in whatever form) to the mother, antibodies passes to the fetus across the placenta to provide protection against neonatal tetanus.” I’m happy to correct myself.

I do maintain that offering education re: proper care of umbilical cord stumps would be the best way to prevent tetanus.

- Beth on January 13th, 2008

Nausicca your right a lot of celebrities do lots of things for charity and stuff, not just angelina. Some of them are more quiet though, they don’t announce everything they do, so they sometimes don’t get the credit and people often don’t know about it. Last year ashley judd and her did a wonderful thing for people with HIV in different countries, it was a lovely documentary. Natalie portman and shakira, also have as well as many other celebrities. Salma is a good hearted person, so I am not surprised at all.

- adriana on January 13th, 2008

“She will be paid an undisclosed honorarium for her participation.”

I think it is sad that a multi-millionaire who is engaged to a billionaire would accept payment from a CHARITY.

I have always admired Salma, and wonder if this is the whole story.

Huge congrats to her on Valentina though! I bet she’ll be a great Mom.

- Caren on January 13th, 2008

Well over here in Germany we are already done with the champaign and i read what they had written on it and if i recall right one vaccination costs only 1 Cent and they are making such a big deal of it!!!!

All my kids wore Pampers and so does my 5 months old now but sometimes i buy other name brands as well.

- Simone on January 13th, 2008

Beth: As someone getting a graduate degree in public health, I definitely see your point about the umblical cord stumps. However, education isn’t enough to prevent disease. Women have to have access to the materials to do so. I mean, if you are living in a hut somewhere, the probability of getting dirt on the stump might be pretty high. So, perhaps women would be better served with money going not only to education, but to the tools to help them put the education into practice

- M on January 13th, 2008

In Portugal they did the same with Dodot diapers. Dodot is owned by Pampers, anyway. The diapers, wipes (and their names), the wipes boxes are same. – http://www.dodot.pt/servlet/jope.showPage/html/sp/microsites/unicef/home.xml

- Ana on January 13th, 2008

While Salma’s celebrity will certainly draw attention to this campaign I agree that it would have been much more becoming of her to refuse a payment for her participation.

- Belle on January 14th, 2008

Read the news release on the Uniced site http://tinyurl.com/38dmmv and notice that what they are doing is donating 5 cents for each qualifying purchase. Considering I just paid $26 at Target for a box of 100 Size 4 Cruisers, I am a little underwhelmed by this. Yes, it is wonderful that they are doing anything at all, but come on, a whopping 5 cents of my $26?

- Amy on January 14th, 2008

We do this here in France already. We buy Pampers cuz they are the best and we also like knowing some of the money spent on them goes towards a good cause.

- Jennifer on January 15th, 2008

I used to be all gungho about vaccinating and now I’ve done a 180. My son was vaccinated totally until age 4. He won’t be receiving anymore vaccines and our baby due this summer will receive none whatsoever.

Do the research people, I beg you to! I know not everyone feels the way I do and I respect that.. and for most families vaccines do exactly what they are supposed to. In our family, they do not. PLease PLEASE research before you vaccinate. Make an EDUCATED decision and not blindly trust all doctors and gov’t officials… you know what? They DON’T know best!

Go read the ingredients lists for all the vaccines we pump into our babies.. it kinda makes you sick to think about it once you know what’s in them.

Some vaccines should be completely pulled in 1st world countries.. many disease have been ERRADICATED.. and who’s pansy idea was it to have a chicken pox vaccine? That’s just LAZINESS! American companies don’t want their employees to miss work to stay home with a sick kid, so they pushed that vaccine on everyone. I’m glad that things are different here in Holland.. they do almost all the vaccines (even though we won’t be using them), but they don’t have pointless ones like chicken pox. Here parents are treated fairly when it comes to their children and needing to stay home with them… most mothers are stay at home moms anyway.

Again, please do the research and don’t just assume what ANYONE tells you is right..

- Laura on January 16th, 2008

I just removed all Pampers from my baby registries and asked that all people refrain from purchasing them for my child. I will not support anything that supports injecting such horrible toxins into people and children!

- Autumnsmommy on April 4th, 2008

There is no reason for these vaccines. The reason the children are contracting tetanus is because in Africa, when they are born, they smear cow dung on the cut umbilical cord. They are literally poisoning their children. Instead of vaccinating the children, just educate their culture that this is not a safe thing to do.

- Not Specefied on June 18th, 2008