Scaling up interventions to eliminate neonatal tetanus: factors associated with the coverage of tetanus toxoid and clean deliveries among women in Vientiane, Lao PDR.

The Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) is one of seven countries that have not eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus in more than 50% of districts. We conducted a community-based household survey to assess the achievements of strategies towards maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination in the capital province. The coverage of tetanus toxoid (TT) was 79.7% by the protection-at-birth (PAB) method. The percentages of deliveries attended by skilled personnel and of deliveries at a health facility were 68.4% and 63.7%, respectively. The progress towards eliminating neonatal tetanus in Lao PDR is not sufficient despite the study sites being placed in the capital province. The lack of continuum of care for mothers and newborns is the major obstacle to scale up the tetanus toxoid coverage and PAB as well as clean deliveries.