Over the last several years Lesotho has experienced very poor harvests and severe food shortages. In 2004 the World Food Program expects more than 600,000 people in Lesotho to need emergency food assistance. A key finding of the UNAIDS mission to Lesotho in January 2003 was that the country's HIV/AIDS response must be coordinated with programs to improve Lesotho's agricultural sector and reduce the problem of food insecurity.

Sources: BBC country profile, WHO HIV report, IRIN, UNAIDS Mission Report, January 2003

Lesotho uses DOTS in its fight against TB, and 69 percent of TB cases are detected and treated under the DOTS program.

Sources: HSRC report, United Nations Statistics Division

Demographic data contained in this section was obtained from the following sources: The Population Reference Bureau’s 2009 World Population Data Sheet was used for total population, life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, fertility, birth rate, death rate, % of married women 15-49 using modern methods of contraception, % of population 15-49 with HIV/AIDS in 2007/2008, and the GNI PPP per capita (2008). Literacy rates were found in the Population Reference Bureau’s publication 2005 Women of Our World. HIV prevalence data for 2001 and 2003 was obtained from the UNAIDS Barcelona 2002 report; HIV prevalence and orphan data for 2005 was obtained from the UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2006. Data on the % women who have discussed AIDS prevention with their husband or partner can be found in ORC Macro and USAID’s Women’s Lives and Experiences: Changes in the Past Ten Years (Research Findings from the Demographic and Health Surveys). Childhood malaria mortality data was accessed in 2003 from the United Nations Statistics Divisions’ Millennium Indicators. Tuberculosis data was obtained from the United Nations Statistics Division’s Millennium Indicators: MDGInfo 2006. In some cases information was unavailable.

Lesotho's premier hospitals are Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, which is the national referral hospital, and Maseru Private Hospital in Thetsane. About 80 percent of the patients admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital are HIV positive.

According to the WHO's most recent statistics (for 1995), Lesotho has approximately 5.4 physicians per 100,000 population (about 100 total), and 60.1 nurses per 100,000 population (about 1,100).

Sources: Ministry of Health, UNAIDS Mission Report, January 2003, WHO

Lesotho National Malaria Program

Lesotho National TB Program