3 September, Maseru: ABC News reported that for Lesotho's 800,000 children, there are only six paediatricians to serve all of them.

From a public hospital in Maseru, Kate Snow reported that ill infants had to share oxygen tanks due to a lack of resources and that the children's mothers would stay with them 24 hours a day, as there are not enough nurses and doctors to look after them.

Lesotho's government pay for medical students to leave the country for their training. But, despite agreements with the government to return, job offers and higher salaries in South Africa or Europe keep them away.

Many of the countries paediatricians are Americans who work at the Baylor Clinic. Doctors from the Baylor Clinic see as many patients as they can a day and travel to other regions to train local physicians and nurses. This extra service provides vital help at a desperate time.

Of Lesotho's 800,000 children it is estimated that 18,000 are infected with the HIV virus. While only a couple of years ago only 600 children were on anti-retroviral treatment and now over a thousand are, this is still far from enough.

It is hoped that even if there are not enough paediatricians, there will one day be enough trained family doctors and nurses to look after Lesotho's children.