Task sharing involves the strategic redistribution of tasks among health workforce teams and personnel. Specific tasks are moved, shared and delegated, usually from highly trained health workers to those with shorter training or fewer qualifications.

Implementation considerations

• Training and mentorship. Effective task sharing with non-specialist doctors or nurses requires appropriate training and ongoing mentorship at the decentralized site and access to additional support or referral to tertiary or specialist sites for more complex cases. This should include awareness-raising and training to ensure provision of non-stigmatizing, non-discriminatory health care to key populations.
• Defining roles and standards of care: Standards of care should be defined for different levels of the health system, including the private sector. The role of each cadre of health worker should match their skills and capacity, and the lines of responsibility should be clear and well understood. There is a need to ensure an appropriate mix of health care workers at peripheral facilities.
• Regulatory framework: An appropriate regulatory framework (laws, regulations, policies and guidelines) is needed to enable tasks to be performed by different cadres of health care workers. In some countries task sharing and delegation may require changes to legislation and rules and procedures. It is not yet understood how task sharing for hepatitis C care could apply to children’s care, due to the need to adjust the dosage for younger children.