Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance Receives UN, WHO Primary Health Care Award

An innovative program between the department of family medicine and the Lesotho Ministry of Health recently was honored by the United Nations (UN) at the annual meeting of the Friends of the UN Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases.

Aimed at improving the physician-patient ratio for Lesotho and training leaders for public health infrastructure, the LesothoBoston Health Alliance (LeBoHA) allows students from Lesotho who have completed medical school abroad to return to their home country, in Southern Africa, to complete their residency—and remain there.

The 2022 UN Interagency Task Force and the World Health Organization (WHO) Special Programme on Primary Health Care Award recognizes LeBoHA’s achievements in strengthening Lesotho’s healthcare system by providing context-specific primary healthcare training for providers at the community level.

The award highlights LeBoHA’s role in providing an exemplary platform for primary healthcare professionals to collaborate and jointly strengthen action across Europe, including advocating for ever-stronger, fairer, and more equitable primary care. This year, the task force joined forces with the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care and expanded the award to recognize work in primary care for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases.

“I am humbled by this honor,” says Brian Jack, MD, professor of family medicine and LeBoHA director. “I would like to thank all of our members who made this award possible and who continue to work to make our pro- gram an example for healthcare delivery in low-income countries.”

Started in 2003, the partnership between the department of family medicine and the Lesotho Ministry of Health has developed an innovative family medicine residency program in Lesotho, which is now fully accredited, self-sustaining, and directed by a program graduate. All program graduates have remained in Lesotho to practice, which has improved the country’s physician-patient ratio, trained leaders, and strengthened the public health infrastructure. ●