The Kenyan Government has collaborated with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to launch the Maisha MTCT-Free Zone Initiative, which hopes to eliminate paediatric HIV in Kenya by 2015.

One of the initiative's components is a `mother-baby pack' containing antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and antibiotics that women can administer themselves to reduce the risk of infecting their babies with HIV. The drugs are colour-coded so that even illiterate mothers can use it.

The initiative was launched in Kisumu, in the west of the country. UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said that it "has the potential to save many lives and I believe it is [an important] component towards the realisation of our goal".

The packs are to be distributed by health workers to HIV-positive pregnant women so do not yet need ARV treatment for their own health. Officials hope that the initiative will reach those women who are unlikely to return to a clinic after their initial diagnosis.

The packs will be made available at antenatal clinics in four districts in the western provinces of Nyanza and Rift Valley, whose populations account for around 50% of all Kenyan children living with HIV/AIDS. Officials estimate that 22,000 Kenyan children are infected through mother-to-child transmission every year. There are currently 81,000 pregnant women living with HIV.

The pack was launched in Lesotho and Zambia earlier this year, and experience showed that the focus must be on strengthening the capacity of health workers and consequently the social acceptability of the packs.