Measuring inequalities in the public health workforce at county-level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in China

Cai, Weiqin; Li, Chengyue; Sun, Mei; Hao, Mo

This study has several limitations. First, although the study used data quality control and investigator training, insufficient data collection was inevitable due to objective reasons. However, when we compared the data to the health statistics yearbook, the differences were negligible. Second, the equity analysis of the distribution can only tell us the quantity distribution of PHWs but cannot reflect the differences in personnel quality. However, in the descriptive analysis part, we were able to show some problems in the quality distribution of PHWs by analyzing the regional distribution differences of the three types of PHWs. As the core professionals, the distribution of field epidemiological investigators is the most inequality, suggesting that quality distribution of PHWs may have a potential greater inequality. Third, although our data are derived from national surveys and are broader than those available from the public sector, due to the conservative nature of data disclosure in the Chinese administration, our data include a reporting gap. The availability of data on health workers is one of the current major obstacles to conducting health workforce research and developing appropriate health worker policies [31] . As far as we know, the data and information of all county CDCs in China are insufficiently disclosed to the public sector. Data availability has a direct impact on PHWs' distribution decisions, especially at the local level.