Lesotho is a small, landlocked, mountainous country in sub-Saharan Africa surrounded by South Africa. With a total population of almost two million people, Lesotho is the third most severely HIV/AIDS-affected country in the world. An estimated 23.2% of people in Lesotho between the ages of 15 to 49 years are infected with HIV as well as over 22,000 children under the age of 15 years. Nearly 100,000 children in Lesotho under the age of 14 years have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. As a result of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Lesotho, life expectancy is now less than 36 years of age.

If Canada had an HIV/AIDS epidemic like that in Lesotho, over 1,400 Canadians would die of AIDS every day.

Lesotho faces many challenges in addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis, including an overburdened health care system, limited resources and a severe shortage of doctors and nurses to educate and treat people living with HIV/AIDS. Also, until 2004, there was no affordable access to lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

Despite the obstacles, the Government of Lesotho is strongly committed to fighting HIV/AIDS and in 2004 launched Turning a Crisis into an Opportunity, the national strategy for heightening the national response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Lesotho. In addition to the national ARV program, the Government of Lesotho also launched the Know Your Status campaign in 2006, which was designed to encourage every person in Lesotho to get tested for HIV.