Lesotho

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Equity in health has been a cornerstone of Jhpiego’s work since 2008.

  • More than 122,000 Basotho have learned their HIV status through Jhpiego-led initiatives, and over 210,000 men have received voluntary medical male circumcision services, thereby benefiting from this procedure’s protective effect against HIV infection.
  • Jhpiego pioneered the first-ever integrated, comprehensive, nurse-led male clinic, which received over 18,000 patient visits in the first two years. The clinic, which provides client-centered, male-friendly health services and improves male health-seeking behaviors, has been endorsed by the Ministry of Health and is being replicated at 13 primary health care clinics.
  • Jhpiego supported the Lesotho Nursing Council to introduce task shifting for nurse practitioners to establish and implement a sustainable, nurse-led HIV/AIDS response. This includes nurse-initiated and nurse-managed antiretroviral therapy services for people living with HIV, thereby reducing the burden on doctors so they can focus on more advanced care needs.
  • Jhpiego is supporting the Ministry of Health to provide pre-exposure prophylaxis and other combination prevention services to more than 13,000 people at high risk of contracting HIV, primarily adolescent girls and young women.

Our Work in Lesotho

Fighting COVID-19 Under the Reaching Impact, Saturation, and Epidemic Control (RISE) Project

With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Jhpiego is working in select countries, including Lesotho, to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with ministry of health priorities in each country, RISE’s COVID-19 response support may include: assisting in the planning and rollout of national vaccine plans, including ensuring health care workers are prepared to implement and monitor this plan; providing focused and clinically relevant capacity building for clinicians providing COVID-19 case management; strengthening the oxygen ecosystem; and supporting health care workers in oxygen conservation, rationalization and non-invasive respiratory care.

RISE is a five-year global project—funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and USAID—that works with countries to achieve a shared vision of attaining and maintaining epidemic control, with stronger local partners capable of managing and achieving results through sustainable, self-reliant and resilient health systems. The project is led by Jhpiego with the following partners: ICAP at Columbia University, Management Sciences for Health, Anova, BAO Systems, Johns Hopkins University Center for Public Health and Human Rights, and Mann Global Health. For the COVID-19 ventilator technical assistance effort, RISE is also collaborating with the University of California San Francisco, World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists (via the GH STAR project), FHI 360 (via the EpiC Project) and Johns Hopkins University emergency medicine and critical care staff.

Khanya Project: Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Services in Lesotho

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by a consortium made up of Jhpiego, the Christian Health Association of Lesotho (CHAL) and Wits Reproductive Health Institute, the three-year Khanya Project is strengthening services for voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention. The project aims to reduce the number of new HIV infections and maintain HIV epidemic control through coordination, collaboration and robust partnerships with the government of Lesotho, CHAL and community-based organizations—to whom the program will transition by 2023. Services to be transitioned to local stakeholders at facility and community levels consist of a population-specific minimum package of VMMC for integrated adolescents and adults, and PrEP for populations at risk of contracting HIV.

 

 

Community and Universal Testing for TB among Contacts

Jhpiego is supporting a study in Lesotho with the goal of increasing TB yield through universal testing as compared to standard TB screening among household and community contacts. Jhpiego’s support includes implementation of the clinical trial, collection of specimens, arranging and supporting training of staff, collection of data and overall capacity development. This work is being conducted under a multi-country study (in Lesotho, South Africa and Tanzania) funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership. The multi-country study is led by the Aurum Institute with partners Forschungszentrum Borstel Leibniz Lungenzentrum, National Institute for Medical Research in Tanzania, University College London, Karolinska Institutet and Jhpiego.

Stepping Up Universal Access: A Multi-Sectoral Partnership Response to TB/HIV

With funding from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Jhpiego has been supporting programs for TB and HIV treatment, support and care in Lesotho. Currently under this award, Jhpiego is strengthening health facility-based TB case finding and diagnosis by scaling up a proven quality improvement approach and building the capacity of health care workers in facilities in 10 districts. Interventions include training of private health facilities on essentials of quality improvement, supportive supervision and mentorship, and support for health facility exchange meetings.

Maximizing Options to Advance Informed Choice for HIV Prevention (MOSAIC)

Under this global project, led by FHI360 and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Jhpiego is leading project implementation in Lesotho. The goal of the MOSAIC project is to ensure that individuals, especially women, can protect themselves from acquiring HIV by accelerating introduction and scale-up of new biomedical prevention products, and by expediting availability, acceptance, uptake and impact of these products.

The people we serve

Defeating Tuberculosis in Lesotho Requires Tracing and Trekking  

Loosening TB’s grip on Lesotho—where the airborne respiratory disease remains a leading cause of death—means more than treating those who show up at clinics and hospitals with symptoms of the contagion.  Ending TB by 2030 in this mountainous kingdom as well as throughout the world—the objective declared in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—depends on

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Meet Manthomeng Matete

Meet Manthomeng Matete, who coordinates the Community and Universal Testing for TB among Contacts (CUT-TB) study in Lesotho. A three-country study, CUT-TB is evaluating new contact tracing strategies with the ultimate aim of improving case detection. Jhpiego leads the study in Lesotho in partnership with The Aurum Institute. What problems is study hoping to solve?

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Women in a waiting room

In Lesotho, HIV programs give COVID-19 vaccine campaign a leg up

The challenges governments in Africa face to vaccinate their people against COVID-19 have been well-documented. Inadequate supplies and funding, lack of necessary ultra-cold chain technologies for some vaccines, vaccine hoarding by rich countries and delays in shipments all disrupted supply over the past year. Even as supplies improved late in 2021, vaccine hesitancy is disrupting

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Lesotho Nurses Win Trust during Pandemic

What do a Basotho couple—he, a parliamentarian, and she, a public health specialist in Lesotho’s Ministry of Health (MOH)—have in common with a nun in her mid-90s? More than a few things: All had COVID-19. All were hospitalized. All recovered. And all are praising the skills and dedication of the health care providers who treated

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HIV Services Benefit Lesotho Prisoners

Mohai Mohai is among the Lesotho prisoners benefiting from a prisoner health program funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation and implemented by Jhpiego. The 23-year-old received HIV screening, care and treatment services while in prison and follow-up support to ensure his wife had a healthy and HIV-free pregnancy.

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A health worker's gloved hands using a finger prick HIV test on a client.

Men Are in the House at Khotla

After learning about the men’s clinic at Scott Hospital from a colleague, Lebamang Moiloa decided to go there for HIV services and explore voluntary medical male circumcision, a key prevention intervention. “I was nervous,” the 27-year-old student admitted. “I didn’t know what to expect. Who was going to assist me? How would I deal with

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Male nurse speaking with a group of men at a health clinic.

One Man’s Determination Helps VMMC Succeed

Motivated by the health benefits of voluntary medical male circumcision, Moeketsi Mokhele engages his village chief to raise awareness about the importance of the HIV prevention strategy in their community.

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Three doctors preparing for surgery.

Preparing Nurses to Care for Remote Communities

Pilot project in Lesotho leads to improved clinical skills and confidence-building of nursing students.

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Nurse Tsepiso Jomane outside a health facility.

Country Contact

Nyikadzino Mahachi, Country Director

Tel. 266 5250 5400

First Floor Dolphin House

23 Motsoene Road

Industrial Area

Maseru – 100, Lesotho

Current and Recent Donors

Elton John AIDS Foundation

Global Fund/Ministry of Finance (Project Management Unit)

University of New Mexico

UNFPA

UNICEF

USAID

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