The majority of studies showed improved health outcomes when compared with usual healthcare , including reductions in blood pressure , increased uptake of medications and lower depression scores .
Factors such as training of NPHWs , provision of algorithms and protocol s for screening , treatment and drug titration were the main enablers of the task-shifting intervention .
The main barriers identified were restrictions on prescribing medications and availability of medicines .
CONCLUSIONS Task-shifting from physicians to NPHWs , if accompanied by health system re-structuring is a potentially effective and affordable strategy for improving access to healthcare for NCDs .
BACKGROUND One potential solution to limited healthcare access in low and middle income countries ( LMIC ) is task-shifting- the training of  non-physician healthcare workers ( NPHWs ) to perform tasks traditionally undertaken by physicians .
The aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of studies involving task-shifting for the management of non-communicable disease ( NCD ) in LMIC .
Task shifting of antiretroviral treatment from doctors to primary-care nurses in South Africa (STRETCH): a pragmatic, parallel, cluster-randomised trial
Summary Background Robust evidence of the effectiveness of task shifting of antiretroviral therapy ( ART ) from doctors to other health workers is scarce . We aim ed to assess the effects on mortality , viral suppression , and other health outcomes and quality indicators of the Streamlining Tasks and Roles to Exp and Treatment and Care for HIV ( STRETCH ) programme , which provides educational outreach training of nurses to initiate and represcribe ART , and to de central ise care . Methods We undertook a pragmatic , parallel , cluster-r and omised trial in South Africa between Jan 28 , 2008 , and June 30 , 2010 . We r and omly assigned 31 primary -care ART clinics to implement the STRETCH programme ( intervention group ) or to continue with st and ard care ( control group ) . The ratio of r and omisation depended on how many clinics were in each of nine strata . Two cohorts were enrolled : eligible patients in cohort 1 were adults ( aged ≥16 years ) with CD4 counts of 350 cells per μL or less who were not receiving ART ; those in cohort 2 were adults who had already received ART for at least 6 months and were being treated at enrolment . The primary outcome in cohort 1 was time to death ( superiority analysis ) . The primary outcome in cohort 2 was the proportion with undetectable viral loads ( < 400 copies per mL ) 12 months after enrolment ( equivalence analysis , prespecified difference < 6 % ) . Patients and clinicians could not be masked to group assignment . The interim analysis was blind , but data analysts were not masked after the data base was locked for final analysis . Analyses were done by intention to treat . This trial is registered , number IS RCT N46836853 . Findings 5390 patients in cohort 1 and 3029 in cohort 2 were in the intervention group , and 3862 in cohort 1 and 3202 in cohort 2 were in the control group . Median follow-up was 16·3 months ( IQR 12·2–18·0 ) in cohort 1 and 18·0 months ( 18·0–18·0 ) in cohort 2 . In cohort 1 , 997 ( 20 % ) of 4943 patients analysed in the intervention group and 747 ( 19 % ) of 3862 in the control group with known vital status at the end of the trial had died . Time to death did not differ ( hazard ratio [ HR ] 0·94 , 95 % CI 0·76–1·15 ) . In a preplanned subgroup analysis of patients with baseline  CD4 counts of 201–350 cells per μL , mortality was slightly lower in the intervention group than in the control group ( 0·73 , 0·54–1.00 ; p=0·052 ) , but it did not differ between groups in patients with baseline CD4 of 200 cells per μL or less ( 0·94 , 0·76–1·15 ; p=0·577 ) . In cohort 2 , viral load suppression 12 months after enrolment was equivalent in intervention ( 2156 [ 71 % ] of 3029 patients ) and control groups ( 2230 [ 70 % ] of 3202 ; risk difference 1·1 % , 95 % CI −2·4 to 4·6 ) . Interpretation Expansion of primary -care nurses ' roles to include ART initiation and represcription can be done safely , and improve health outcomes and quality of care , but might not reduce time to ART or mortality . Funding UK Medical Research Council , Development Cooperation Irel and , and Canadian International Development Agency
The majority of studies showed improved health outcomes when compared with usual healthcare , including reductions in blood pressure , increased uptake of medications and lower depression scores .
Factors such as training of NPHWs , provision of algorithms and protocol s for screening , treatment and drug titration were the main enablers of the task-shifting intervention .
The main barriers identified were restrictions on prescribing medications and availability of medicines .
CONCLUSIONS Task-shifting from physicians to NPHWs , if accompanied by health system re-structuring is a potentially effective and affordable strategy for improving access to healthcare for NCDs .
BACKGROUND One potential solution to limited healthcare access in low and middle income countries ( LMIC ) is task-shifting- the training of  non-physician healthcare workers ( NPHWs ) to perform tasks traditionally undertaken by physicians .
The aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of studies involving task-shifting for the management of non-communicable disease ( NCD ) in LMIC .