Ever since the 2006 World Health Report advocated increased community participation and the systematic delegation of tasks to less-specialized cadres, there has been a great deal of debate about the expediency, efficacy and modalities of task shifting.The delegation of tasks from one cadre to another, previously often called substitution, is not a new concept. It has been used in many countries and for many decades, either as a response to emergency needs or as a method to provide adequate care at primary and secondary levels, especially in understaffed rural facilities, to enhance quality and reduce costs. However, rapidly increasing care needs generated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and accelerating human resource crises in many African countries have given the concept and practice of task shifting new prominence and urgency. Furthermore, the question arises as to whether task shifting and increased community participation can be more than a short-term solution to address the HIV/AIDS crisis and can contribute to a revival of the primary health care approach as an answer to health systems crises.In this commentary we argue that, while task shifting holds great promise, any long-term success of task shifting hinges on serious political and financial commitments. We reason that it requires a comprehensive and integrated reconfiguration of health teams, changed scopes of practice and regulatory frameworks and enhanced training infrastructure, as well as availability of reliable medium- to long-term funding, with time frames of 20 to 30 years instead of three to five years. The concept and practice of community participation needs to be revisited.Most importantly, task shifting strategies require leadership from national governments to ensure an enabling regulatory framework; drive the implementation of relevant policies; guide and support training institutions and ensure adequate resources; and harness the support of the multiple stakeholders. With such leadership and a willingness to learn from those with relevant experience (for example, Brazil, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia), task shifting can indeed make a vital contribution to building sustainable, cost-effective and equitable health care systems. Without it, task shifting runs the risk of being yet another unsuccessful health sector reform initiative.

Primary health care (PHC) is again high on the international agenda. It was the theme of The World Health Report in 2008, thirty years after the Alma-Ata Declaration, and has been the topic of a series of significant conferences around the world throughout 2008. What have we learnt about its impact in improving population health and health equity? What more do we still need to know? These two questions frame a four-year international research/capacity-building project, 'Revitalizing Health for All' (RHFA), funded by the Canadian Global Health Research Initiative (http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-108118-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html). The RHFA project is organised under the umbrella of the People?s Health Movement (http://www.phmovement.org/en) and the International People?s Health University (http://phmovement.org/iphu/), and involves researchers from over a dozen countries. Our project team?s understanding of PHC is of a comprehensive approach aimed at reducing health inequities that is based on meaningful community participation, multidisciplinary teams and action across sectors.

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Although home-based care (HBC) programs are widely implemented throughout Africa, their success depends on the existence of an enabling environment, including a referral system and supply of essential commodities. The objective of this study was to explore the current state of client referral patterns and practices by community care workers (CCWs), in an evolving environment of one rural South African sub-district. Using a participant triangulation approach, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 CCWs, 32 HBC clients and 32 primary caregivers (PCGs). An open-ended interview guide was used for data collection. Participants were selected from comprehensive lists of CCWs and their clients, using a diversified criterion-based sampling method. Three independent researchers coded three sets of data – CCWs, Clients and PCGs, for referral patterns and practices of CCWs. Referrals from clinics and hospitals to HBC occurred infrequently, as only eight (25%) of the 32 clients interviewed were formally referred. Community care workers showed high levels of commitment and personal investment in supporting their clients to use the formal health care system. They went to the extent of using their own personal resources. Seven CCWs used their own money to ensure client access to clinics, and eight gave their own food to ensure treatment adherence. Community care workers are essential in linking clients to clinics and hospitals and to promote the appropriate use of medical services, although this effort frequently necessitated consumption of their own personal resources. Therefore, risk protection strategies are urgently needed so as to ensure sustainability of the current work performed by HBC organizations and the CCW volunteers.

BackgroundCommunity care workers (CCWs) in rural South Africa provide medical, personal, household, educational, and social care services to their clients. However, little understanding exists on how provision of services is approached within a household, taking into account available social support networks.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to generate an understanding of the processes that underpin the provision of care by CCWs in rural households and their engagement with clients, primary caregivers (PCGs), and other members of the social support network.DesignWe analysed in-depth interviews conducted in a triad of participants involved in a home-based care (HBC) encounter – 32 clients, 32 PCGs, and 17 CCWs. For each triad, a purposefully selected CCW was linked with a purposefully selected client and the corresponding PCG using maximum variation sampling. Three coders used an inductive content analysis method to describe participants’ references to the nuances of processes followed by CCWs in servicing HBC clients. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.FindingsThe results suggest that, by intuition and prior knowledge, CCWs treated each household uniquely, depending on the clients’ care needs, cooperation, availability of a social network, and the reliability and resilience of the social support system for the client. Four distinct processes took place in rural households: needs assessment for care, rationing of care, appraisal of care, and reinforcement of a social support system. However, there was no particular order or sequence established for these processes, and caregivers followed no prescribed or shared standards.ConclusionsCCWs bring a basket of services to a household, but engage in a constant, dynamic, and cyclical process of weighing needs against services provided. The service package is uniquely crafted and tailored for each household, depending on the absorptive capacity of the social support network available to the client, and preferences of the clients remain central to the process of negotiating care.

The online version of this article can be found at http://dx

The social and physical environments have long since been recognized as important determinants of health. People in urban settings are exposed to a variety of health hazards that are interconnected with their health effects. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have underlined the multidimensional nature of poverty and the connections between health and social conditions and present an opportunity to move beyond narrow sectoral interventions and to develop comprehensive social responses and participatory processes that address the root causes of health inequity. Considering the complexity and magnitude of health, poverty, and environmental issues in cities, it is clear that improvements in health and health equity demand not only changes in the physical and social environment of cities, but also an integrated approach that takes into account the wider socioeconomic and contextual factors affecting health. Integrated or multilevel approaches should address not only the immediate, but also the underlying and particularly the fundamental causes at societal level of related health issues. The political and legal organization of the policy-making process has been identified as a major determinant of urban and global health, as a result of the role it plays in creating possibilities for participation, empowerment, and its influence on the content of public policies and the distribution of scarce resources. This paper argues that it is essential to adopt a long-term multisectoral approach to address the social determinants of health in urban settings. For comprehensive approaches to address the social determinants of health effectively and at multiple levels, they need explicitly to tackle issues of participation, governance, and the politics of power, decision making, and empowerment.

Workers in small-scale wood industries (SSWI) have increased risks of developing asthma and other respiratory diseases. Wood dust and microbial agents have both been suggested to play a role, but few studies have measured endotoxin exposure in SSWI in Africa. We assessed inhalable dust levels in 281 samples from 115 workers and bacterial endotoxins levels in 157 samples from 136 workers from SSWI in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The overall geometric mean of personal exposure was 3.3 mg/m 3 ; geometric standard deviation (GSD) 2.5; range 0.45-67.0 mg/m 3 ) and 91 EU/m 3 (GSD 3.7; range 9-4914.8 EU/m 3 ) for wood dust and endotoxins, respectively. Dust and endotoxin levels were weakly correlated (r ¼ 0.44, n ¼ 157, Po0.0001). Betweenand within-worker variances and percentages explained by the differences among job titles and seasons were 0.31 (9%) and 0.35 (30%), respectively, for wood dust exposure, and 0.35 (0%) and 0.35 (38%) for endotoxin exposure. Higher dust and endotoxin exposure levels were observed in the dry compared to the wet season, after correcting for differences in exposure between jobs. Carving and manual cleaning were associated with the highest dust exposures. Sewing seat covers and manual cleaning were associated with the highest endotoxin exposures. Dust and endotoxin exposure levels in SSWI are high and appropriate control measures are necessary.