When newborns are diagnosed with HIV, there's no time to wait. If they don't get treatment right away, half won't live to see their second birthday. But all too often, infants in Kenya die because outdated, paper-based systems delay test results, diagnoses, and the care they need.

Together with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), HP's Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) project will dramatically improve testing and treatment for more than 120,000 infants exposed to

HIV in Kenya each year. HP is providing technology that will shorten the turnaround for HIV test results to just two or three days—a huge improvement that has the potential to save thousands of lives.

Better technology for faster test results

HP and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) are working with the Kenyan government to reduce the amount of time it takes to diagnose an HIV-positive infant.

The Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) project automates the HIV testing process, significantly speeding up the reporting of test results and helping to save lives.

As of 2011, five state-of-the-art HP data centers connect with four existing laboratories, providing a platform to speed the transmission of data. Samples are now assigned a barcode, tested, and then recorded in a database. Instead of postal mail, results are sent by text message to SMS-enabled HP printers in rural clinics.

If clinics have Internet access, they can also receive the results by email or access the data online.

A process that used to take several months now reliably takes less than 30 days, allowing HIV-positive patients to receive antiretroviral treatment early. Commencing treatment at an early stage is critical in controlling the virus and is directly related to survival rates.

In 2011, approximately 65,000 infants were tested in Kenya through EID, and HP expects that more than 70,000 tests will be completed in 2012.

The technology infrastructure supporting this program is rolling out in Uganda, and is expected to transform and improve other health programs as well.