Lesotho
(Kingdom of Lesotho)
Lesotho is a landlocked country located in the South and is surrounded by the Republic of South Africa .
Lesotho's Ailing Public Health System
Affordable healthcare is is becoming scarce in Lesotho, where patients vie for drugs and go long distances to see a doctor.
 |
| Patients queue at a hospital in Lesotho's capital, Maseru. Across the country, it is becoming more difficult to find affordable healthcare. Photograph: Denis Farrell/AP Matebello Makhanya left her village of Ramabanta early in the morning and travelled 60km to Maseru, Lesotho's capital, in the hope of seeing a dentist at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital – the largest in the country – only to be told that it was about to be closed and dental services were no longer provided there. |
Country Background: Lesotho
Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966.
King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990, but returned to Lesotho in 1992 and reinstated in 1995. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule.
In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody intervention by South African and Botswanan military forces under the aegis of the Southern African Development Community.
Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002.
