11 October 2024 by Pascalinah Kabi

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Data from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning shows that between April and June 2024, Lesotho went beyond its target of informing people about their tuberculosis (TB) status by four percent.

It means that for every 100 people Lesotho aimed to notify about their TB status, the country actually informed 104 people, surpassing their target by four percent.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Pheello Pompong, says this was achieved through the community-based TB campaigns run by the Ministry of Health.

“In terms of the TB the country we have not been doing well,” Pompong said.

However, Pompong said that between April and June 2024, Lesotho made good progress because of the Global Fund programme, which helps fight HIV, TB, and Covid-19.

Under the current three-year programme, Lesotho has been allocated $71.3 million (1.2 billion) to combat HIV, TB, and Covid-19. This is part of the broader support from the Global Fund, which has financed programmes in Lesotho totalling $364 million ($6.4 billion) since 2003.

“When we are analysing the data for this new grant for the quarter one (April to June), we noticed that the TB notification, the people who have notified with TB and put on treatment, we have improved. We have surpassed the target for quarter one,” Pompong said.

The reason Lesotho was able to inform and treat more people for TB than expected is because of the Ministry of Health’s TB campaigns.

“Like I have indicated, TB notification has improved due to the chest x-rays that are being used during TB campaigns. The Minister of Health conducted TB campaigns and because of that, we saw the improvement in terms of TB notification,” Pompong said.

He added: “We don’t know what is going to happen in this quarter two. We will see if there is going to be the same trend moving forward.”

The Ministry of Health is the second largest group to receive money from the Global Fund Programme. Out of the $71.3 million (M1.2 billion) given to Lesotho, $31.8 million (M556 million), which is 45 percent, was given to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. The Ministry of Health received $18.1 million (M317 million), which is 25 percent of the total budget.

Also read: https://www.uncensored.org.za/how-lesotho-is-adapting-to-tackle-high-tb-mortality-rates/

This information was shared during a meeting between Namibian and Lesotho parliamentarians, who are responsible for social issues oversight in their respective countries. The meeting took place in Maseru on October 10, after five Namibian parliamentarians arrived in Lesotho on October 7 to learn from their legislative counterparts.

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Lesotho’s Social Cluster Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Mokhothu Makhalanyane, explained the purpose of the presentation. Makhalanyane said it was for the Namibians to learn from Lesotho’s strengths and consider using similar strategies in Namibia.

Makhalanyane mentioned that the same Global Fund Portfolio Manager has overseen Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini for quite some time.

“So, the performance of the countries is normally shared and reflected. They (Global Fund) also make some recommendations in terms of how we may collaborate with one another. 

“So, one of the things that I know that they recommended even for us here in Lesotho is that we need to check with Namibia in terms of improvement on TB. Also, what we know is that in terms of the grants management itself for Namibia, they have been recommended to check with Lesotho in terms of the Principal Recipient,” Makhalanyane said.

In this meeting, Namibian lawmaker Paula Kooper said one life look to TB was too many.

“Allow me to appreciate your (Lesotho) efforts, it will not go unnoticed because one life, dead, is just too many. We are already few,” Kooper said.

“With that, as much as we do good in Namibia regarding TB and HIV and AIDS, there was a worrying trends that we are falling back on HIV and AIDS again and we must guard against it,” Kooper said.

The good and bad

As Lesotho works hard to stop the spread of TB, in line with global goals, the latest data from the Ministry of Finance and Development shows both good and bad news.

The good news is that Lesotho exceeded its target by identifying four percent more people who have been in contact with TB patients. The country also treated four percent more people with TB than it aimed for. However, the bad news is that people are still dying from TB.

“But we still have challenges in terms of people are dying. We have about 14 to 15 percent of the people that die who have started the treatment,” Pompong said.

He said this was one of the factors affecting the country’s performance on TB elimination.

“In terms of a percentage of multi-drug TB, people that were notified, who has started on treatment, the achievement was 94 percent.

“And MDR TB notification is not doing well because you can see that the achievement ratio was 86 percent,” he said. He added that help from village health workers played a big role in achieving that 86 percent.

Between April and June 2024, TB patients who were tested using the recommended method from the World Health Organization (WHO) did not do well either, reaching only 65 percent of the target goal of 100 percent.

Lesotho, Namibia share notes

From October 7 to 11, 2024, five members of the Namibian Parliament visited Lesotho to meet with their colleagues in the Social Cluster. The Namibian group included Chairperson Gotthard Kasuto, Paula Kooper, Johanna Kandjimi, Bertha Dinyando, Empraim Nekongo, and committee clerk Romcline Kakero.

On October 10, they attended a meeting in Parliament where Pheello Pompong and his colleagues presented information about the Global Fund Programme. They discussed the programme’s impact and how it supports Lesotho through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.

Soon after the presentation, Namibia’s chairperson on Gender Equality, Social Development and Family Affairs Gotthard Kasuto commended Lesotho for doing well in terms of fighting HIV and TB.

“Looking at the presentation here, it’s like the Lesotho is doing well because the method you are using, it’s really for us to learn from it and know what the Global Fund is money used for,” Kasuto said.

In Namibia, Kasuto said the Global Fund is managed by the Ministry of Health, unlike in Lesotho where it is handled by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.

Kasuto, a Namibian representative, said he was impressed by how Lesotho’s parliament is involved in overseeing how the Global Fund money is used. He added, “That’s very interesting for us to see.”

“You can see that Parliament is really involved. You are really reporting to Parliament. This is the things we want, the transparency. When this comes in the country, everybody is in the know of what is really happening,” Kasuto said.

Namibian Member of Parliament Paula Kooper asked for an explanation about the role Lesotho’s parliament plays in overseeing how donor money is used.

“Ours (Namibia) is to appropriate funds to the ministry’s organs and agents and then we have an oversight over it. So, I wanted to find out now, since these finances are not directly appropriated to parliament but it’s donor funding, what oversight role do you play over donor funding which is not government funding?”

Lesotho Social Cluster Chairperson Mokhothu Makhalanyane explained that in Lesotho, donor funding is included in the capital budget.

“Donor funding falls under the capital budget, the loans fall under the capital budget, and the government projects fall under the capital category of the budget. So that means this budget that is being presented here is also part of the the allocation that we approve the appropriation bill for. So that means the Parliament makes an approval of the appropriation bill inclusive of the donor funding and the loans,” Makhalanyane explained.