Botšabelo Hospital
| Botšabelo Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Maseru, Lesotho |
| Coordinates | 29°20′15″S 27°31′46″E / 29.337384734845614°S 27.529311064835056°E |
| Organisation | |
| Type | Public |
| Services | |
| Beds | 24[1] |
| History | |
| Opened | 1914 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Lesotho |
| Other links | https://pihlesotho.org/ |
Botšabelo Hospital, also known as Lesotho MDR Hospital or Lesotho MDR-TB Hospital, is located in Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho.[2] The 24-bed facility is a specialty referral hospital treating patients with Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis exclusively.[1] As of 2020, it was the only hospital in the country accredited to provide comprehensive tuberculosis drug resistant treatment.[2]
Botsabelo opened as a state hospital, or leprosorium, for patients infected with leprosy in 1914.[3] The hospital was initially more a detention center, and patients did not receive medicines.[4] The initial structure was the repurposed accommodations of British soldiers and was built of cheap corrugated sheet metal.[4]
The hospital was retooled for tuberculosis by Partners In Health and Lesotho's Ministry of Health in April 2007.[1][5] As of 2015, the hospital employed 130 health care workers.[6]
In 2024, Selibe Mochoboroane Mochoboroane, then Lesotho's Minister of Health, said that Lesotho had the second highest incidence of tuberculosis in the world.[7] In 2022, over 15,000 people contracted tuberculosis in Lesotho, and approximately 14 percent of those patients died of the disease.[5] In 2024, the incidence rate was estimated to be 724 cases per 100,000 people.[7] The small size of Botšabelo Hospital has limited the effectiveness of control of the disease in Lesotho.[8] This is because patients have to wait for a bed in the specialised facility to become available in order to be isolated and receive treatment.[8] While waiting, researchers have found that sick patients infect those in their community, and can even spread hospital-acquired infections by seeking treatment at other, less specialised hospitals.[8]
References
- ^ a b c "Lesotho's One-of-a-Kind Hospital". Partners in Health. September 22, 2016.
- ^ a b Katende, Bulemba; Esterhuizen, Tonya; Dippenaar, Anzaan; Warren, Robin (February 5, 2020). "Rifampicin Resistant Tuberculosis in Lesotho: Diagnosis, Treatment Initiation and Outcomes". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 1. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-58690-4. ISSN 2045-2322.
- ^ Powell, Alvin (July 2, 2008). "Confronting tuberculosis". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
- ^ a b Thabane, Motlatsi (2021). "Public mental health care in colonial Lesotho: themes emerging from archival material, 1918–35". Published: History of Psychiatry: Madness, Science, Culture. 32 (2): 146. doi:10.1177/0957154x21989176. ISSN 0957-154X.
- ^ a b Motaung, Ntsoaki (March 18, 2024). "A large proportion of TB patients die while on Treatment". Newsday.
- ^ Malangu, Ntambwe; Adebanjo, Omotayo D. (March 27, 2015). Knowledge, attitude and practices of healthcare workers about prevention and control of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis at Botsabelo Hospital Maseru, Lesotho (PDF). African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine (MSc Thesis. thesis). Vol. 7. University of Limpopo, Medunsa Campus. doi:10.4102/phcfm.v7i1.774.
- ^ a b Khausela, Tokelo (February 22, 2024). "Health Sector to Prioritize Primary Healthcare". Lesotho Times.
- ^ a b c Seung, Kwonjune; Omatayo, David; Keshavjee, Salmaan; Furin, Jennifer; Farmer, Paul; Satti, Hind (2009). "Early Outcomes of MDR-TB Treatment in a High HIV Prevalence Setting in Southern Africa". PLoS ONE. 4 (9): 1. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007186. ISSN 1932-6203.