[Investigation into the capacity for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation in managing public health emergencies in China].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the capacity for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation in public health emergency management in China.


METHODS
Four provinces were randomly selected using stratified sampling. All the municipalities under these four provinces were assessed using the 3rd subscale (Risk Identification, Risk Assessment, and Risk Mitigation) of Preparedness and Response Capacity Questionnaire for Public Health Emergencies Used in Provincial or Municipal Governments, which was developed by the Center for Health Statistics and Information, Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China.


RESULTS
Sixty of 66 questionnaires (90.91%) were collected. Among 60 investigated municipalities, 35 (58%) identified the potential public health emergencies, 17 (28%) assessed the risks for the identified emergencies, and 5 (8%) conducted risk assessments for the locally accident-prone factories, mines, corporations, and big establishments, 6 (10%) identified the priorities in public health emergency management based on risk assessment, 6 (10%) developed special prevention strategies for main public health emergencies, 3 (5%) assessed the vulnerability of local residents to public health emergencies, and 34 (57%) assessed or were assessing the preparedness and response capacity for public health emergencies in the past 2 years. The mean of standard total score for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation was 24.05 (95% CI: 18.32, 29.77).


CONCLUSIONS
Risk identification, assessment, and mitigation still require further improvement in China, and both the central and local authorities should implement more effective and efficient measures.
Hu
Guo-qing
GQ
Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha 410078, China. huguoqing110@xysm.net
Rao
Ke-qin
KQ
Sun
Zhen-qiu
ZQ
D002681:China; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment