2016 Vol. 3 No. 3: 26 Research Article DOI: 10.21767/2254-9137.100045 iMedPub Journals http://www.imedpub.com Health Systems and Policy Research ISSN 2254-9137 1 © Under License of Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License | This article is available from: http://www.hsprj.com/archive.php Tumaini Nyamhanga 1 , Mughwira Mwangu 1 , Eileen Petit-Mshana 2 , and Peter Petit 2 1 Department of Development Studies, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania 2 Zwinglilaan 73, 1216 MC Hilversum, The Netherlands Corresponding author: Tumaini N  tumaininyamhanga@yahoo.com Department of Development Studies, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania. Tel: +255 713 254000 Fax: 922134934294 Citation: Tumaini N, Mwangu M, Eileen PM et al. Task Shifing in Rural Tanzania: Characteris tcs and Quality Implicatons of Semi-Skilled Heal th Staf Serving in Lindi and Mtwara Regions. Health Syst Policy Res. 2016, 3:3 Abstract Background: Due to severe and critcal shortage of health professionals lower level health facilites in Tanzania, notably Dispensaries, depend on medical atendants/semi-skilled health workers for service provision. This paper reports on characteristcs of these semi-skilled health staf, their performance of tasks, and related implicatons for quality of health services in Lindi and Mtwara regions. Methods: This was essentally a cross-sectonal, descriptve fact fnding study. Its implementaton followed a triangulated methodological approach. That is, both quanttatve and qualitatve approaches in data collecton and analysis were employed. Results: About two thirds, 146 (61.4%), of the studied Medical Atendants had a primary level of educaton. Most of them at most atended a one year course in basic nursing; Kilwa and Liwale districts lead by far in having more than half of the studied facilites manned entrely by Medical Atendants. Examinaton of their scheme of service versus the tasks they engage in indicated glaring gaps calling for interim quality improvement measures. Current supervisory visits by members of the Council Health Management Team (CHMT) are mainly administratve – ofering limited or no clinical support. Conclusion: The situaton of delivery of health services by semi-skilled staf in the rural Dispensaries amounts to an unmanaged task shifing. The implicatons of this fact on quality of services rendered to the poor rural residents are overwhelming. There is need for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to develop a policy and guideline that will recognize the important role played by Medical Atendants and shed light on how their work performance can be improved. Task Shifing in Rural Tanzania: Characteristcs and Quality Implicatons of Semi-Skilled Health Staf Serving in Lindi and Mtwara Regions Received: June 02, 2016; Accepted: August 08, 2016; Published: August 11, 2016 Introducton There is a chronic shortage of skilled health workers globally, and the crisis is most severe in poor countries [1-5]. In Tanzania, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) estmated in 2006 that there were 29 000 staf working in government health facilites (65% shortage) and about 6000 staf working in private facilites (86% shortage) [6]. The shortage of health workers is more serious in the rural districts [7-10] which are mainly served by dispensaries – as shown in Figure 1. Tanzania, like most developing countries, human resource for health is concentrated in major towns and cites at the expense of the rural areas which contain more than 75% of the populaton (World Bank 2008). It is estmated that rural districts contain about a third of available doctors and nurses. Lindi and Mtwara Regions in the Southern zone of the United Republic of Tanzania are the regions most afected by the Human Recourse for Health crisis. By 2009 the Regions had a shortage of 63.4% health workers [11]. Reluctance among qualifed health professionals to work in these regions has resulted in this chronic and critcal shortage. The 2009 situaton analysis for Human Resource for Health (HRH) showed that 1499 health workers are serving a populaton of 940,533 in Lindi [12 -14]. In response to the serious shortage of qualifed human resources for health in the rural health facilites, the government of Tanzania