Many developing countries face strains in meeting the demands for health services because of shortages of qualified medical personnel, especially in rural areas. The continued “brain drain” of trained medical professionals has exacerbated this situation, as has the increased demand for HIV services. These factors have contributed to a growing interest in the concept of “task shifting,” described by WHO as a process of delegation or shifting of some tasks to less-specialized health workers (WHO 2007). “Task sharing,” a similar concept, refers to a partnership in which different levels of providers do similar work, rather than having less-credentialed providers take over all provision of a service. (excerpt)