**5. Disease burden**

The country is faced with enormous health challenges; as nearly one-quarter of adults 15 − 49 years of age are living with HIV (22.9%) [29], and Lesotho is considered to have the world's second highest tuberculosis incidence rate at 916 cases per 100,000 population [30, 31]. Lesotho as a country also has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world at 490 per 100,000 live births, with a lifetime risk of maternal death at 1 in 64 [32]. According Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey (LDHS), there were 19% of women and 13% of men aged 15–49 who have hypertension [26]. One in five women and one in seven men with hypertension (5% of all women and 2% of all men age 15–49) have their hypertension controlled with medication [26].
