Lesotho - Country Profile
Fact File
- Lesotho
- Area: 11,720 sq miles (30,255 sq. km)
- Capital: Maseru
- Population: 1,995,000
- Life expectancy: 40 (m), 44 (w)
- Child mortality (under 5): 132 per 1000
Lesotho is a small mountainous country situated towards the east of the Republic of South Africa and entirely encircled by it. The capital, Maseru, is situated in the lowlands in the west of the country. The climate is temperate, with well-marked seasons. But the climate in the eastern half of the country is bleak. Snow falls frequently in the highlands during the winter. Hail storms can occur in all regions during the summer.
Riders in Lesotho
- Number of staff: 31
- Number of vehicles managed: 120
- Programme Director: Mahali Hlasa
In 1991 Riders began its first national programme in Lesotho working with the Save the Children Fund and the Ministry of Health. The programme was managed by Mohale Moshoeshoe. The programme had 47 Kawasaki KV175 in Lesotho and ran for seven years without a single breakdown.
In 2008 Riders launched a new programme in Lesotho. Riders is now working with, the Ministry of Health, Partners in Health and the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative in a programme funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF)to mobilise 120 outreach health workers with a particular focus on HIV/AIDS and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
We are managing motorcycles to reach the country’s isolated highlands – which are not accessible by any other motorised means – to enable our partners to deliver regular health care. The programme is being funded initially by EJAF while the Lesotho Ministry of Health has agreed progressively to take over financial responsibility.
Riders and our partners have also identified a further need for a specialist service for the transport of samples and results. One of the main challenges to managing the disease burden – and particularly the HIV crisis – is in detection of the disease and therefore in the testing of the population. This is vital in the case of pregnant women and in particular the stemming of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
We developed our new Professional Sample Courier (PSC) model as a direct response to this specific challenge. The model allows not only for the management of motorcycles but also for the employment of the riders for specialised sample delivery and collection, thereby strengthening this fundamental part of the health care delivery chain. Riders carried out a successful pilot of this model with CHAI in Lesotho in 2008.
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