Health Indicators
•Population = 1.8 Million
•Annual growth rate = 1.9%.
•The life expectancy at birth = 41.2
•The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) 94/1000
•HIV prevalence rate = 23%
•HIV prevalence among pregnant women 27%
•ANC 1st visit 92%
•Focused ANC 70%
Health indicators cont..
•The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) 1155
•PMTCT coverage 84%
•Facility Delivery 62%
•Home delivery 38%
•PNC within 48hrs 55%
•CPR 47%
Lesotho Policy Background
•Lesotho does not have a specific universal HIV and SRHlinkages and integration policy or strategy.
•Lesotho’s policy response to HIV and SRH is captured invarious independent policy documents.
•SRH and HIV are vertically programmed.
•There has been a mapping exercise of SRH and HIVtools in 2012 that will inform the review of suchpolicies.
•Although there is bilateral programming of SRH/HIV,both invite each other during the development orreview of the policies and budget.
National HIV Policies
•Lesotho National Health and Social Welfare Policy 2011 providesthe national framework for addressing health issues and identifiesHIV, STI,TB; and SRHR/FP as priority health issues.
•National HIV and AIDS Policy 2006 and National HIV and AIDSStrategic Plan 2006-2011, provide the overall framework for thecountry’s HIV response.
•Health Sector Policy on Comprehensive HIV Prevention 2010, aimsto integrate HIV prevention activities into all activities of theLesotho health-care system. The policy commits to linkages andintegration of HIV&AIDS with poverty reduction strategies includinga broader focus on SRH.
National SRH policy
•National Reproductive Health Policy 2008 commits toensuring the integration of HIV & AIDS into SRH.
• Lesotho National Adolescent Health Policy 2006 aims toprotect the health, development and rights of alladolescents in Lesotho.
•Adolescents Health Standards –2012 draft documentaddresses SRH and HIV in broader manner.
•SRH draft strategic plan- addresses both SRH and HIV(2011-2016)
SRH Policies Cont..
•Lesotho Obstetric Record (LOR)- integrates ANC,Delivery, PNC and HIV
•e-MTCT Plan (2011 – 2016) -has integrated MNCH andHIV.
•ANC, FP, Ca Cx ,STI and PMTCT guidelines- areintegrated
•ANC, delivery and postnatal registers- are integrated
•CHW Training Manual- includes all essential package ofcare.
•Patient Tracking Tool- used by CHW to track all lost tofollow clients (HIV infected,TB,ANC etc)
Key challenges
•The available policies,strategies, guidelines andtools are not fully integrated.
•Donor funding mainly focuseson HIV alone and do notaccommodate otherprograms e.g. SRH
Way Forward
•MOH is in the phase of reviewing both theSRH and HIV documents to incorporate therecommendations of the assessment.
•Although countries feel that having a standalone policy for integration is a waste of timeand funds, there is need to have oneintegrated policy for SRH and HIV to addresssome burning issues.
Conclusion
Bringing SRH and HIV togetherwill reduce the costs, savepatient time, enhance scarcehuman resource and addressesinfrastructural problems.
thank you
KHOTSO PULANALA