title: Preparing for and responding to public health emergencies in China: a focus group study.
abstract: To gather information that would assist China's central government and local governments in public health emergency management, we conducted focus groups to identify current problems. In three provinces, selected to reflect differing economic and social status, we met with two groups each, composed of public health officials and practitioners. Sampling to achieve a mix and for convenience, we followed a guide to cover five topics. Eleven common problems emerged. China's central government and local governments should take immediate action to solve these remaining problems in public health emergency management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha City, Hunan Province, China. huguoqing110@xysm.net
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Keqin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Zhenqiu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sur
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004189:Disaster Planning; D040381:Education, Public Health Professional; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D017144:Focus Groups; D006285:Health Planning; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000193:education; D015980:Public Health Practice; D036301:Qualitative Research