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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Jim Yong Kim, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 and Jennifer J. Furin, MD, PhD, Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 1620 Tremont St., 3rd floor, Boston, MA 02120, 6175257527, jfurin@partners.org.

There are currently an estimated 29 million people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa; one of the countries with the highest prevalence (estimated to be between 24 and 29%) of disease is the small, land-locked nation of Lesotho. Home to a population of approximately 2 million, this nation faces overwhelming obstacles in terms of HIV prevention and treatment, including marked poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to electricity and difficult, mountainous terrain. Instead of viewing these obstacles as reasons not to scale up prevention and treatment, the Basotho people have risen to these unique challenges and are attempting to aggressively confront their HIV pandemic. One strategy being implemented is the "Know Your Status" campaign, whose goal is to provide HIV testing to all Basotho in the country as an entry point for improved access to prevention and care services. This paper will review the rationale for doing so and the many innovative measures currently being implemented in Lesotho to ensure that the human rights of the entire population are secured when it comes to HIV prevention and treatment.

Learning Objectives:

• Learning objectives are for the session, not for specific papers.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No