This paper reports on an attempt to gain an insight into the beliefs, knowlege, conceptions, and misconceptions about AIDS held by a small segment of the rural population in highland Lesotho. These observations are then interpreted in the context of the social and economic realities that characterize the daily life of these communities. It has been argued that the over-reliance on epidemiology has deterred attention from the wider social, economic, and political context in which AIDS is embedded. It is only through qualitative studies that this contextualization, and thus a better understanding of the dynamics of AIDS can be gained. This piece of research aims to contribute to this goal by examining the way in which Basotho women conceptualize AIDS, and by interpreting these data in the light of the prevalent social and economic conditions in which the sample population lives. -from Author

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rural population socio-economic conditions medical geography women's knowledge AIDS developing country Sexual Partners Lesotho