The Peruvian government launched a program on Thursday aimed to improve the aid provided to newborn babies and reducing the country's infant mortality rate by 3 percent.

Health Minister Anibal Velasquez said the name of the program is "Welcome to life," Fox News Latino reported. The minister held a ceremony Thursday for the new program along with Nadine Heredia, the wife of President Ollanta Humala, at the Cayetano Heredia Hospital in the San Martin de Porres district of Lima.

The goal of "Welcome to life" is to reduce Peru's mortality rate to eight deaths per 1,000 live births. Currently the rate is 11 deaths per 1,000 live births.

As part of the initiative to reaching its goal, 33,000 boxes will be distributed, which would be used as cribs during the first four months after birth. The boxes contain warm clothes along with a mattress, blanket, milk and other items to help take care of newborn babies.

In the beginning of 2015, the boxes will began distribution "with the priority for the most vulnerable areas with the fewest resources," Velasquez said. The first set of boxes will go to homes in parts of the Andes Mountains and then go to the coastal and jungle regions of Peru.

According to a 2012 Neonatal and Child Health Profile report from the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, 87 percent of newborns in Peru are born at a health facility. Also, 74 percent of children 12-23 months are fully vaccinated, and 59 percent of children under five with suspected pneumonia are taken to health a facility.

A recent report from Countdown to 2015 says some of the world's poorest countries have been successful in cutting maternal and young child mortality rates by half or more. The report, Accountability for Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival, highlights success in improving health.

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