"Using the 1986/87 Household Budget Survey of Lesotho, we measure the extent of inequality, identify the determinants of economic well-being and decompose total inequality by population subgroups. The results show large inequality in economic well-being. Many households in Lesotho are heavily dependent on miners' remittances from the Republic of South Africa. In the study we quantify their effe...

BACKGROUND The impact and management of HIV/AIDS in Lesotho in the context of disaster management was investigated. OBJECTIVES Lesotho health care workers' perception on HIV/AIDS progression, whether HIV/AIDS was managed as a disaster, and the impact on the demographic profile was investigated. METHODS The empirical investigation included a literature study, and primary and secondary data a...

Lesotho, a small, mountainous country completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa, has a population of approximately 2 million persons with an estimated gross national income of $1,280 per capita; 73% of the population resides in rural areas (1). Lesotho has a generalized human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic (2). In 2014, the prevalence of HIV infection among persons aged 15-49...

BACKGROUND Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths and has become a significant public health issue. Previous studies have paid less attention to tobacco use and socio-economic equalities among men in developing countries. This study examines the relationship between tobacco use and socio-economic inequalities among men in Ghana and Lesotho. METHODS The study made use o...

'Should Lesotho be incorporated into the "new" South Africa?' is a much debated question throughout Lesotho. It is actually an old question, but its currency today stems from the political transformation of South Africa. Proponents point to Lesotho's economic dependence on South Africa, and tenuous existence as a state since its birth in the 19th century, to suggest that citizens might be bette...

Lesotho, a small, mountainous and resource poor country inside South Africa, has emerged as the largest and fastest growing exporter of apparel from Sub-Saharan Africa to the US. Its rapid manufacturing growth has been driven by inflows of export-oriented foreign direct investment. This paper explores this unusual experience against the setting of the dismal record of industrial growth and comp...

Boston University (BU) has a long history of a strong social mission and commitment to service. In August 2003, BU made an institutional commitment to work with the country of Lesotho to tackle the human capital implications of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Surrounded by South Africa, and with a population of two million, Lesotho, a stable democracy, suffers the world's third-highest adult HIV prevale...

Introduction “PTP”: three letters scrawled in the tattered notebook that served as her medical record. What did it mean? For me, it explained why my previous patient was crying inconsolably onto a nurse’s shoulder. For her it signified far more: another mouth to feed, another nervous wait for an HIV test, a shortage of blankets, an unwanted shift in her world. Clinic over, I went outside and ga...

Introduction “PTP”: three letters scrawled in the tattered notebook that served as her medical record. What did it mean? For me, it explained why my previous patient was crying inconsolably onto a nurse’s shoulder. For her it signified far more: another mouth to feed, another nervous wait for an HIV test, a shortage of blankets, an unwanted shift in her world. Clinic over, I went outside and ga...

Using census data we identify geographic patterns in residency changes in Lesotho over a decade. Using kriging to spatially interpolate data from 8,510 households we identify regions where households have members temporarily living away from home (divided households). Further, using a multivariate analysis and data from 2,026 couples we determine whether a partners' absence increases the likeli...