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Lesotho
 Read our Lesotho Program Fact Sheet.
Click here for a larger map
 
Key Facts [Source: UNAIDS 2008]
- Population: 2 million
- Estimated number of people living with HIV: 270,000
- Estimated number of children under 15 living with HIV: 12,000
- Foundation headquarters: Maseru
- Foundation presence since: 2006
Foundation Programs in Lesotho
- Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT): Providing services to prevent transmission of HIV from mothers to their babies.
- HIV and AIDS Care and Treatment: Providing medical care and antiretroviral treatment for children and families living with HIV and AIDS.
Key Foundation Accomplishments (September 30, 2009)
- Supporting 109 health facilities in 6 districts.
- Provided more than 50,000 women in Lesotho with critical PMTCT services, and tested nearly 46,000 for HIV.
- Enrolled more than 61,000 adults and children into care and support programs; of those ever enrolled, more than 21,000 have begun ART; and of these, 1,229 are children.
- Helped develop unique program in Mokhotlong district, in which villagers on horseback make weekly rounds to remote health centers to pick up blood samples and return test results.
 Lesotho Note From the Field: Lesotho Sporting Event Encourages Men to Get Tested for HIV
Lesotho Note From the Field: Reaching Lesotho's Health Centers on Horseback
Message From the Lesotho Country Director, Leopold Buhendwa
 Lesotho, which we call the Kingdom in the Sky, is one of several places in Africa where the legacy of Elizabeth Glaser is transforming the country. At the national level, Ministry of Health officials credit the Foundation for helping to make lifesaving PMTCT services accessible to the majority of families in Lesotho. At the community level, men, women, and children living in mountain villages more than 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) high are inspired when our staff members travel there to share Elizabeth’s story.
While visiting one of these communities, I once met a young mother enrolled in our PMTCT program who tearfully asked if she could send a letter to Elizabeth Glaser. She was inspired by Elizabeth’s story and she didn’t understand that Elizabeth passed away many years ago. When I asked the woman why she was crying, she said that she was moved to learn that Elizabeth, a wealthy woman from America, did so much to help poor women like her, who have nothing left to live for but their children.
Thanks to stories like these, as well as the positive spirit and commitment of all my colleagues in Lesotho, I feel proud to belong to the Foundation. My only frustration is that I have too few opportunities to teach others about Elizabeth’s legacy. I’d like to shout her story to all of humanity, and inspire them to join us in our mission to create a generation free of HIV.
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Notes From the Field:
First-person accounts of day-to-day Foundation field work.
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