Ithabeleng Qhasho
THE Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Lesotho has marked its 20th anniversary, celebrating two decades of lifesaving healthcare services for children and adolescents affected by HIV and other chronic illnesses.
Executive Director, Dr Lineo Thahane, reflected on the foundation’s journey, recalling the early 2000s when the HIV epidemic overwhelmed Lesotho’s health system. As a young paediatrician, she witnessed daily child deaths due to severe pneumonia, malnutrition, and untreated infections.
“As a newly trained paediatrician trying to find her place in this world, it is not easy to express how hard it was in the early 2000s during my training, to spend time in the children’s medical ward at Queen II, and children were dying on a daily basis — literally on a daily basis!” Dr Thahane said.
“Stigma was so widespread we couldn’t even write ‘HIV’ in patients’ health books. We wrote ‘RVD’: Retro-Viral Disease, instead — just to avoid backlash.”
Since its establishment on 1 December 2005, the Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Lesotho has played a pivotal role in transforming paediatric and adolescent healthcare in the country. Born from a partnership between the Baylor College of Medicine International Paediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) and the Government of Lesotho, the Foundation was created in response to the urgent need for accessible, high-quality care for children affected by HIV.
At a time when paediatric HIV services were scarce, the clinic became a beacon of hope, offering free treatment and support to thousands of families.
Over the past two decades, the Foundation has expanded its services to include comprehensive adolescent care, chronic disease management, and family-centred health programmes. It has also contributed significantly to capacity-building by training local health professionals and strengthening Lesotho’s broader health system. Today, it stands as a model of effective public-private partnership, committed to improving child health and saving lives.
Adding to the celebration, the Ministry of Health Deputy Principal Secretary, Matšoanelo Monyobi, commended Baylor for reshaping the country’s paediatric health response.
“This is not just a celebration of years, but a celebration of lives touched, lives saved, and systems strengthened,” Ms Monyobi said.
“Baylor did not arrive in Lesotho just as another implementer, but as a reliable partner that brought hope and sustainable solutions to our healthcare challenges.”
She also acknowledged the Foundation’s role in training health workers and strengthening health policy.
“The ripple effects of this partnership have reached every corner of our health system,” she added.
Among those who shared testimonies during the celebration was Thapelo Majoro, a former patient and now Youth Ambassador for the Foundation. Diagnosed at the age of seven, he said Baylor Lesotho not only saved his life but empowered him to dream beyond survival.
“Baylor walked with me through the darkest days. Today, I am healthy, I’ve graduated from university, and I mentor others living with HIV. This clinic gave me more than treatment — it gave me hope,” Mr Majoro said.
The event was attended by senior government officials, among them former Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Timothy Thahane; former Director of Planning in the Ministry of Health and Chairperson of Baylor’s Board of Trustees, Majoele Makhakhe; the National AIDS Commission (NAC); and the Baylor Beneficiary Representative.
Both Dr Thahane and Ms Monyobi noted the need to sustain progress and address emerging health challenges.
