31 July 2026 by Monyane Khau

Lesotho’s healthcare system requires at least 2,000 doctors to adequately serve the country’s population, yet only about 295 general practitioners are currently serving patients across the country, the Lesotho Medical Association (LMA) has revealed.

Appearing before Parliament’s Social Cluster Portfolio Committee on 30 July 2026, LMA President Dr Lerato Mothae painted a bleak picture of the country’s medical workforce, warning that the shortage of doctors and specialists continues to undermine healthcare services and force patients to seek treatment outside the country.

“We have already indicated that Lesotho is failing to absorb trained doctors, most of whom are Basotho. Based on the doctor-to-patient ratio, this country needs a minimum of 2,000 doctors. At this point in time, we have very few,” Dr Mothae said.

He said the country remains far below the minimum number of doctors required to meet its healthcare needs.

“Many of us are not even working in clinical practice or public health. This shows that we not only need to absorb doctors faster, but we also need to train and recruit enough doctors to address the shortage,” he said.

Dr Mothae said Lesotho’s acute shortage of specialists continues to force the government to spend significant amounts of money referring patients to hospitals in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

According to figures presented to the committee, Lesotho has only two oncologists serving the entire country.

The Ministry of Health told the committee that it has 345 established posts for medical doctors, but only 179 are filled, leaving 166 vacancies.

The ministry further said it had not allocated funding to recruit doctors into those vacant positions during the current financial year.

“This year we have not budgeted for these vacancies. This means that during the current financial year, we will not be able to fill those positions.”

Members of Parliament questioned the ministry’s recruitment claims.

Social Cluster Portfolio Committee Chairperson Mokhothu Makhalanyane accused the ministry of misleading the committee after previously reporting that 28 doctors had been recruited.

“The Ministry of Health misled this committee and claimed that 28 doctors were hired. We followed up and found that only 11 doctors were actually hired, while two rejected the offers,” Makhalanyane said.

The Lesotho Medical Association also raised concerns that newly qualified doctors remain unemployed despite the country’s severe shortage of medical professionals.

LMA Secretary General Dr ‘Matheko Mohalenyane told the committee that 16 medical doctors who completed both their medical studies and internship training have remained unemployed since August 2025.

The revelations expose a growing contradiction in Lesotho’s health sector: while the country faces a critical shortage of doctors and specialists, qualified Basotho medical graduates remain unemployed because of budget constraints, leaving vital healthcare posts unfilled.

Meanwhile, Dr Mothae criticised the quality of internship training available to Basotho doctors, saying many graduates were required to return home before completing adequate clinical training abroad and are forced to complete what he described as substandard internships in Lesotho.

“I am not happy with the quality of doctors this country has produced, including myself. We were forced to come home before completing our internships,” he said.