This review tried to bring to light success stories and challenges of other African countries on the same topic as lesson for current endeavors in Ethiopia where the process of implementation of task shifting is in its early stage. It concluded that task shifting can help improve access, coverage and quality of HIV/AIDS related services only if other human resource, financial, health care quality issues and the need for ongoing evaluation and research are addressed. BackgroundTask shifting is a systematic way of shifting tasks and responsibilities from more to less specialized health workers. At present, it is being applied as a strategy for retaining skilled health workers and improving access to HIV/AIDS related services in Ethiopia and other African countries (1, 2).