Mid-level providers, often known as assistant medical officers or non-physician providers, represent a critical part of the solution to the human resources crisis which is crippling health systems across Africa. Acting within a comprehensive health workforce system - which includes physicians, nurses, midwives, managers and administrators –mid-level providers have been used by several sub-Saharan African countries for decades; in Mozambique, for example, 92% of all C- sections at the district hospital level are carried out by mid-level providers at a quality of care equal to that of physicians. Health Systems Strengthening for Equity (HSSE) is conducting research with local leading research institutions in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania to develop an evidence base on the role of mid-level providers in maternal and newborn health. HSSE is engaged in policy and advocacy activities to catalyze political leadership and policy action to increase the scale and effectiveness of mid-level providers.

Supported by Irish Aid and the Danish government, HSSE partners include The Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program (AMDD), at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; The Centre for Global Health (CGH), Trinity College Dublin; The Regional Prevention of Maternal Mortality Network (RPMM); The Centre for Reproductive Health (CRH) at the University of Malawi; the Department of Community Health at Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, and IFAKARA in Tanzania.

Learn more: http://www.midlevelproviders.org/.