Nohana, Lesotho

A Lesotho patient walking to the clinic.

Bo-Mpato Litsebeletsong tsa Bophelo

Lesotho, a completely landlocked country in South Africa, has suffered at length from HIV/AIDS. AIDS and tuberculosis affect about one fourth of the adult population in Lesotho. Tuberculosis has the ability to spread very quickly and weakens the already fragile immune system of an AIDS patient.

A mountainous country, Lesotho and its rural villages are sometimes only accessible by airplane because there are few safe paths up the mountains. PIH hopes to have ten sites in Lesotho by 2008 dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment ofAIDS. The organization has helped to provide treatment for pregnant mothers who are infected, as well as malnourished children.

In 2007, PIH began to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The organization is currently developing plans for a MDR-TB hospital in the capital city and the renovation of a tuberculosis laboratory. The World Food Program provides nutritional support for patients and their families in Leotho. This is consistent with PIH's belief that every human should have the right to health care and a good environment, no matter what the circumstances, which, in the case of Lesotho, may be its difficult terrain. In 2006, PIH also found cases of XDR-TB, extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, which they have begun to treat through a recently launched program.