Lesotho Project Update

I just received the latest data from the project that I worked on in Lesotho and the results have given me some cautious optimism despite all the resource issues (e.g. trained staff turnover, lack of funding etc.) and other problems faced in the Maluti Health Service Area. The health service area encompasses approximately 300 square kilometers and covers over 264 villages in rural and peri-urban northeastern Lesotho. The aim of the project is to increase the capacity of communities in the health service area to deal with the onslaught of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) in addition to the other health issues that they face. The project tries to meet this aim by training community health workers; lay counselors (non-medical staff trained to conduct pre- and post- HIV counseling and rapid HIV testing); expert patients (HIV positive people who are open about their status and on antiretroviral treatment who advocate for patients in the clinics and communities); and communities themselves through mobile HIV counseling and testing and TB campaigns. Here are some of the statistics that were compiled from April to December 2006:

- A total of 127 community health workers have been trained;
- 36 traditional healers have been trained in the basics of HIV/AIDS and TB and clinical referral;
- 12 lay counselors have been trained for Maluti Hospital, Fobane, Sebedia, and Mapheleng clinics;
- 8 Expert patients have been trained;
- Total number of patients registered in April 2006 increased from 600 to 1019 at the end of December 2006;
- Total number of qualified patients on antiretroviral treatment increased from 400 in April 2006 to 800 by December 2006;
- Out of 2874 patients who tested from April to December 2006 at all clinical sites only 13 declined testing;
- After the TB campaigns conducted during this period over 610 new TB patients were registered and on treatment;
- There are 3 long standing support groups with a total membership of 105;
- Prevention of mother to child transmission is the biggest area of concern with only 718 out of 2140 women testing (33.5%).

These numbers are remarkable considering the situation I encountered in November 2005 when the 10 Maluti ARV program was just rolled out. I know these numbers may not be that impressive to some people out there, but considering the situation in Lesotho and in Southern Africa in general, they are a light in the darkness because these numbers reflect community-based solutions driven by Basotho not the missionary or expatriate staff in Lesotho, myself included. Khotso, Pula, Nala (Peace, Rain, Prosperity)!