Health Legislation

The policy establishes the national list of essential medicines and treatment guidelines in Lesotho.

This decree grants women free access to caesarean section services provided by public health establishments.

The Decree sets out the statutes of the social public establishment called the “Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale” (National Social Security Fund).

The law creates a social public establishment called the “Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale” (National Social Security Fund). The purpose of the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale is to manage the various branches of social security set up for workers, such as family benefits; prevention and compensation for occupational accidents and diseases; and old-age, invalidity and survivors' pensions. It is also responsible for managing the health and social action fund. It may also be entrusted with the management of other social security branches.

This decree establishes an autonomous fund to receive revenues from the recovery of primary health care costs in each Integrated Health Center. This fund will primarily support the purchase of essential generic drugs and consumables, the purchase of management tools for cost recovery and the payment of managers' salaries.

The Act establishes the Lesotho Nursing Council, and makes provisions with respect to the education and training, registration, the practice of nursing and midwifery, regulation of professional conduct of nurses and midwives and for related matters.

The Act is to establish the Disaster Management Authority; to regulate its powers and functions and to make provision with respect to emergencies arising out of disasters including prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery measures for the protection of life and property from the effects of disasters.

The Ordinance provides legislation governing pharmacy. The ordinance regulates the classification of medicines, the registration of medicines, the dispensing of medicines, dietary products, cosmetics, the rules for practicing the profession of pharmacist, the dispensing of medicines by doctors and other aspects.

The decree creates a technical-administrative division known as a health district for towns, departments, arrondissements and communes. The Health District is the local level for the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health policy.

The order M°154/MSP/CAB of 29 December 1994 provides the structure and mandate for the Departmental Directorate for Health ("Direction Departementale de la Santé"); this directorate represents the Ministry of Public Health at the level of the department or the urban community and participates in the elaboration, implementation and evaluation of the National Health policy ( providing the competence of the Department Direction for Health). The subdivisions of this directorate include an Executive Secretariat; an Administrative, Financial and Personnel Management Department; a Family Health Service; a Programming and Health Information Department; a Health Education, Hygiene and Sanitation Department; a Health Education, Hygiene and Sanitation Department; a Pharmacy and Laboratory Department.

The Constitution was promulgated in 1993 and modified by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution Act in 2022. It includes 166 articles addressing a large number of issues as the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, the fundamental principles of the state and institutional arrangements. The document includes the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution Act 2022.

The Constitution was promulgated in 1993 and modified by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution Act in 2022. It includes 166 articles addressing a large number of issues as the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, the fundamental principles of the state and institutional arrangements (see more below).

The law determines which individuals have Nigerien nationality at birth as their nationality of origin. Nigerien nationality is acquired or lost, after birth, by the effect of the present legislation or by decision of the public authority taken under the conditions laid down in this law.

The Act consolidates the laws relating to the registration of births and deaths in Lesotho. It makes compulsory the registration of the birth of a child, whether born alive or still-born, and of the death of any person dying after the commencement of the Act (section 3). The office of the Registrar General is the general register office for keeping the register of all births and deaths occurring in Lesotho (section 4).

These regulations have been adopted pursuant to two sections of the Public Health Order of 1970: article 16j referring to the enactment of regulations for the prevention of the spread of any communicable disease by persons who are "carriers" of the disease (...) and article 71m referring to regulations for requiring the medical examination of any person in any premises in which any milk or dairy produce or other article of food intended for sale is collected, kept sold (...).

The Order makes provision for citizenship of Lesotho, for the acquisition, deprivation and renunciation of citizenship, and for related and connected matters.

The Order provides rules regarding diseases subject to the international Health Regulation, the prevention and control of communicable diseases; sanitation and housing; and food and water protection among other aspects.

The order mandates the creation of a medical, Dental and Pharmacy Council; and regulates the keeping and sale of poisons and other related matters.

This law establishes an organization for the general litigation of social security matters, to settle disputes arising from the application of social security legislation and regulations, which by their nature do not fall within the scope of any other litigation.