Objective To evaluate the current status of human resources in healthcare-associated infection prevention and control (infection control) in Jiangxi Province, and explore the impact of emergency public health events on the human resources of infection control professionals in various levels and types of medical institutions. Methods From October 1st to 31st, 2023, questionnaire and on-site interviews were conducted to investigate the human resources situation of infection control professionals in various levels and types of medical institutions in Jiangxi Province. Three stages were selected for the investigation: before the outbreak of COVID-19 (before the event, December 2019), during the event (June 2022), and after the transition of COVID-19 (after the event, June 2023), focusing on the characteristics of human resources between before the event and after the event by the comparative analysis. Results Finally, 289 medical institutions were included. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of infection control professionals in medical institutions among 2019, 2022, and 2023 (χ2=189.677, P<0.001). The number of infection control professionals in 2019 was lower than that in 2022 (P<0.001) and 2023 (P<0.001), but there was no statistically significant difference between 2022 and 2023 (P=0.242). The number of infection control professionals per thousand beds in 2019, 2022, and 2023 was 4.40, 6.16, and 5.76, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between 2019 and 2023 in terms of professional titles, gender, educational level, or professional background (P>0.05). Conclusion Emergency public health events have promoted the increase in the number of infection control professionals, but there is no statistical significance in the professional titles, educational level, or professional background of infection control professionals.
Objective To describe the range of Public-private partnerships (PPP) in the provision of healthcare services, and how the authors have assessed these partnerships. Methods We searched 19 international electronic databases and 3 grey literature databases up to September 2008. Nine websites of relevant organizations and Google were searched for any missing information. Search terms were determined by both health policy experts and search specialists after repeated discussion and pilot searching. Our inclusion criteria were research papers that reported describing or evaluating any public-private partnerships in provision of healthcare services. Two reviewers independently screened, appraised and extracted the data, and disagreements were resolved by discussion or by consulting a third researcher. The studies that scored A or B in terms of quality assessment were analyzed. Results Of the 38 studies included in the analysis, 22 studies aimed to describe strategies, while 16 ones were to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies. The targeted populations were tuberculosis patients, AIDS patients, psychiatric patients, community residents and children. Six partnership mechanisms were categorized: ① formal/ informal contract; ② working group committee; ③ supervision, training and regulation; ④ support and subsidizing; ⑤ integration of health care organizations; and ⑥ co-location. Most of the studies evaluating effectiveness were observational studies. Only three studies were comparative studies, pre- and post- intervention. The results of the most evaluation studies showed that PPP had positive impact on service provision, while it also had some problems and challenges. Conclusion Current studies show that PPP could improve health service provisions to some extent. There are limitations in the range of health services and the depth of the studies, especially evaluation studies that lack rigorous design. However, people should be cautious when they try to learn from the experience from internationally successful PPPs and consider the Chinese context, as the effect of PPP is closely associated with the relevant implementation context.
The traditional Chinese medicine has played an important role in the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Based on the role of traditional Chinese medicine in dealing with the previous epidemics and COVID-19, this paper analyzes the problems and challenges of current situation, and focuses on improving traditional Chinese medicine scientific identification, strengthening the construction of traditional Chinese medicine system, and increasing the intensity of Chinese and Western medicine and so on. In order to improve the cooperation mechanism of Chinese and Western medicine for epidemic prevention and control, and give full play to the role of traditional Chinese medicine in the construction of national public health emergency system, this paper also gives ten corresponding suggestions.
Social prescription is a medical model in which social resources are integrated to provide personalized support to targeted population. It can improve health outcomes and reduce the pressure on health system by addressing social determinants of health. It is a new trend of global health. This paper introduces social prescribing’s definition, history, components, global development, effectiveness, existing problems, and practice in China, analyzes the common and individual issues faced by social prescription in development, and puts forward the opportunities for integrating traditional Chinese medicine into social prescribing in China, aiming better to realize the "Healthy China 2030" strategy.
Coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic is a serious and infectious public health event that causes physical damage and may also have an impact on mental health. West China Hospital of Sichuan University combines the internet hospital platform with the traditional telephone model, establishes a new coronavirus disease 2019 intervention integration platform, and builds a new “four-in-one” medical service system, which contains epidemic consultation, psychological consultation, self-evaluation and home prevention and control. It has established a way for the public to communicate with professional, reduced the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 in space, and effectively carried out psychological decompression and comfort work, disseminated the knowledge of fighting coronavirus disease 2019, and provided medical advice. This article mainly introduces the out-of-hospital psychological intervention model of West China Hospital of Sichuan University during the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic, and aims to provide a reference for exploring the psychological intervention methods for major public health emergencies.
Objective To investigate the accurateness and rapidity of information on SARS , and to provide evidence for decision-making in the construction of the public health information system of China, including information collection, identification and release. Method SARS related information was systematically collected, from ① databases including Medline, CBMdisc and Cochrane Library; ② official websites including WHO, MOH and CDC; ③ non-governmental websites including Sina, Sohu, Yahoo; ④ eleven Chinese Journals and ⑤ gray literatures, These evidence were graded based on their scientific sense, and were analyzed according to their rapidity of release. Results A total of 11 955 pieces of related information were collected. Non-governmental websites were the agents that released the largest number of information (46.7%). Regarding the scientific sense of evidence, hand searched journal was at the top of the evidence pyramid, and followed by Medline, gray literature, CBMdisc, official and non-governmental websites. Regarding the rapidity, official website achieved the most rapid information release, which was followed by nongovernmental website, journal, and database. 71.8 percent of information from official websites was in Chinese, while 65 percent was from database. Conclusions The SARS information from China has contributed enormously to the global information release. Although the amount and rapidity of the information were satisfied, management and deep processing of information should be improved.
Objective To assess the methodology and report quality of Chinese systematic reviews/ meta-analyses on prevention and control of six major diseases in public health. Methods Chinese literatures of systematic reviews/ meta-analyses on prevention and control of six major diseases, including cancer, cerebrovascular disease, cardiovascular disease, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and AIDS were searched in CQVIP, WANFANG Database, CNKI, and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database from the establishment date to June, 2010. Two researchers independently screened and evaluated the data, disagreements were resolved by discussion. Methodology quality and report quality of included reviews were evaluated by OQAQ scale and PRISMA scale. Result Of the 139 literatures included in the analysis, 32 were systematic reviews while 107 were meta-analyses. The highest and lowest scores of methodology quality were 6.5 and 1.5 respectively. The average score was 4.66±0.92 and no literature could meet all nine items. The main problems were insufficient in literatures resource, bias in data selection, lack of rigorous quality assessment for included original studies and so on. The average score of report quality were 15.28±2.91 and the main problems were incomplete report in abstract, data collection and analysis methods, bias control, conclusion and so on. Conclusion Both of the methodology quality and report quality of included literatures have problems in different levels, which require to be further improved.
In response to the public health emergency and other urgent needs, World Health Organization (WHO) developed the concept and methodology of rapid advice guidelines (RAGs) in 2006. Compared with the standard guideline, striving to minimize the risk of bias, the RAG shortens the time to 1-3 months from more than 2 years. This study introduces the background, definition, application condition and performing methods of RAGs, and uses an example to clarify it, thus to provide a reference for the guideline development of public health emergency and other urgent need in China.
