Administrative capacity for perceiving infectious disease-related public health needs in Liaoning and Jilin province: a literature study

  Objective  To examine government agencies′ capacity for perceiving infectious disease-related public health needs and the impact of the capacity on infectious disease epidemics in Liaoning and Jilin province.

  Methods  By searching official websites and internet databases, we retrieved 181 documents and literatures referring infectious disease-related public health needs published by government agencies and health institutions of Liaoning and Jilin province from 2007 through 2016. Descriptive analyses were performed and Spearman correlation analysis was adopted to explore the relationship between the perceiving capability and infectious disease incidence.

  Results  The measure of government agencies′ capacity for perceiving infectious disease-related public health needs increased from 1.5% in 2007 to 16.3% in 2016 in Jilin province but the measure decreased from 25.4% in 2007 to 10.1% in 2016 in Liaoning province. Inverse correlations between the capacity's measure and the incidence of infectious diseases during the 10-year period were observed in the two provinces.

  Conclusion  The government agencies of Liaoning and Jilin province have a general capacity to perceive infectious disease-related public health needs but the two domains – continuity and systematicness need to be improved.