Objective  To analyze public health emergency response capacity and resource allocation in Zhejiang province in 2018 and to provide evidences for optimal allocation of regional public health emergency response resources.

  Methods  The data of the study were retrieved from a survey on public health emergency response capacity in Zhejiang province, National Information System for Disease Control and Prevention and statistical yearbook of Zhejiang province. Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient, and geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis were adopted to assess the equity of public health emergency response capacity and resources allocation among the 87 county-level administrative regions in Zhejiang province.

  Results  The Gini coefficient for all domains of public health emergency response capacity were less than 0.3, indicating a fair equity, except for the coefficient for scientific research ability. The Gini coefficients for population-based allocation of various public health emergency response resources ranged from 0.1 to 0.4; while the coefficients for geographical area-based allocation of the resources were between 0.4 and 0.6. There was a significant aggregation pattern for the spatial distribution of hospitals and doctors in the province (Moran I > 0, P < 0.05). Hot-spot analysis revealed that there were obvious high (Z > 1.96) and low (Z < – 1.96) regions for the resources allocation.

  Conclusion  The equity of public health emergency response capacity is relatively good in Zhejiang province and the population-based equity for health resources allocation is better than the geographical area-based equity. But some aspects of the health resources allocation still needs to be improved in the province.