South Africa is among the most unequal countries in the world with a huge quadruple burden of disease and to address this we need hands. Professor Parimalaranie Yogeswaran argues that we should maximise the untapped potential of clinical associates to beef up the clinical health workforce. They are called by many names — clinical associates in South Africa, physician assistants in the US, assistant medical officers in some Asian countries, and assistant medical practitioners in other countries and yet — across the world — the value they add to health systems is indisputable…..more