Lesotho
Background
Health care workers are the unsung heroes of Lesotho. These professionals have often passed up opportunities to receive higher salaries and 
better benefits in neighboring countries in order to serve their families, communities, and their nation. Working in a system that must contend with prevalence rates of HIV, tuberculosis, and maternal mortality that are among the highest in the world, they remain passionate and driven caretakers. Unsurprisingly, the severity of the burden they are asked to shoulder often results in burnout and attrition. Training and retaining the health workforce is a high priority of the World Health Organization (WHO).[1] Unfortunately, with only 55% of established positions filled, Lesotho’s health worker supply has seen few gains since the MOH released its 2005-2025 Human Resources Development and Strategic Plan in July 2004. Currently, Lesotho has about 6.2 nurses per 10,000 people and about 0.5 physicians per 10,000 people, both about one-third of the African average. Furthermore, of the 150 doctors serving Lesotho’s two million people, less than one-quarter are Basotho, Lesotho’s nationality, and more than half are based in Lesotho’s capital.
LeBoHA
The Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance (LeBoHA, or “thank you” in Sesotho) was registered in Lesotho in 2007 as a non-governmental organization working under an MOU with the Ministry of Health. In cooperation with Boston University faculty, our mission is to assist the government to strengthen a Bosotho-run health system to meets the needs of the people of Lesotho. Our programs focus on recruiting, training, and retaining physicians, nurses, and other health professionals in the country.
Vision
To see a Basotho driven district healthcare system that meets the needs of all Basotho.
Mission
To work with the Government of Lesotho and in particular the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in building the human resources for health needed to improve and sustain good quality comprehensive health care in Lesotho.
Goals
- Developing systems and programs to recruit, train, and retain a quality health care workforce that is able to meet the needs of Lesotho, with a focus on providers delivering primary care services
- Developing management practices and policies that support continuous improvement and maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of health service delivery in Lesotho
- Developing capacity for conducting systems analysis and planning that promotes efficiency, equity and sustainability in the administration of health care in Lesotho
