ABSTRACT
The health and well-being of a population are intrinsically related to the wider socioeconomic and political conditions under which its members live. This chapter explores the way in which the long history of oppression and exploitation by South Africa, and the resulting system of labor migration combine to place Lesotho at a very high risk for the uncontrollable spread of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. In a setting where sexually transmitted diseases are rampant, and where health care facilities are insufficient to deal with background infections that may compromise the immune system, all the factors significantly increase the risk of infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The chapter examines such risk in the District of Mokhotlong, one of the poorest and most isolated rural regions of the country. The housing system of single sex hostels characteristic of labor migration in South Africa also has implications for the spread of HIV infection.
