Abstract
SUMMARY POINTS:
•. Surgically treatable problems account for a significant proportion of disease burden in resource-limited settings, but are neglected due to lack of skilled professionals, adequate infrastructure and equipment, and the perception that surgical services are complex and expensive.
•. In the absence of trained surgeons, surgical tasks are often performed by non-specialist physicians and non-physician clinicians. While evaluations have proven the effectiveness of such task shifting, this is often done de facto, with little supervisory or training framework in place.
•. As efforts increase to scale up surgical care in the developing world, a number of important lessons from task shifting in the field of HIV/AIDS care could serve to support task shifting in surgery.
•. These include clearly defining the limits of task shifting, ensuring adequate training and supervision, providing adequate recognition and remuneration, developing simplified tools and guidelines, ensuring engagement with regulatory bodies, and mobilizing community health workers.
