Malawi has adopted task shifting strategies to overcome the shortage of workers available for HIV/AIDS treatment and care. Task shifting, which has been successful in many other regions, involves training less specialized health workers to perform health-related tasks that do not require professional training, such as the initiation of antiretroviral therapy. For example, at Thyolo District Hospital, health workers spend one week learning how to initiate antiretroviral therapy in a classroom setting and an additional two weeks practicing their knowledge in a supervised clinical setting; after completing this course, they are legally (under Ministry of Health guidelines) allowed to initiate antiretroviral therapy. Another form of task shifting involves training health-oriented counselors in HIV testing and counseling, which relieves nurses of this additional task.
