HIV Rate Hits 31 Percent in Lesotho, 40 Percent of Women in Botswana

Almost a third of Lesotho's population has been infected with HIV, while in Botswana 40 percent of all pregnant women are HIV-positive, said two reports released Tuesday in the southern African countries. In Lesotho's capital Maseru, the UN Development Program (UNDP) said at a workshop on AIDS that 31 percent of Lesotho's population of 2.22 million people were infected. Scholastica Kimaryo, a UNDP representative in Lesotho, called on the country's AIDS Program Coordinating Authority to cooperate with it to form a partnership to deal with the problem. According to a report released by the Botswanan government's National AIDS Coordinating Agency in Gaborone on Tuesday, some 40 percent of all pregnant Botswanan women are HIV-positive. It is estimated that the life expectancy has fallen from 67 to 42 years in the country due to disease.

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