Hayek leads tetanus campaign

Salma Hayek is leading a new UNICEF campaign aimed at helping young African mothers fight tetanus.

The actress, a new mother, was so moved by the efforts teenagers are taking to stay healthy on a recent fact-finding mission to West Africa she felt compelled to tell Americans what she had witnessed.

At a press conference on Thursday, Hayek revealed she was stunned by the efforts being made to eradicate the disease in Sierra Leone, where she also met with tetanus victims.

She said: "One of the things that was very moving about the trip was to see 15-year-old girls, really young, taking responsibility for their lives and their children before they're born by saying: 'I am going to be healthy, I am going to take this vaccination.'

"I had no idea how much this was going to really personally move me."

Procter & Gamble, who are behind the new tetanus initiative, have pledged to give UNICEF the money for one tetanus vaccine for every pack of specially-marked diapers the company it sells before the end of the year.