Equity of human resources allocation among centers for disease control and prevention in China:an analysis with Theil index

Objective To analyze the allocation equity of human resources among centers for disease control and prevention (CDCs) in China and to provide references for rational allocation of human resources among the institutions.Methods Statistical description was used to analyze the status of human resources in the CDCs in China from 2010-2014,and the allocation equity of human resources among the CDCs was evaluated with Theil index.Results From 2010-2014,the average annual decline rate of total personnel,health and technical personnel,and practice (assistant) personnel in CDCs were 0.4%,0.7%,and 1.9%,respectively.There were within-and between-region inequity in human resources allocation among the CDCs.The Theil indexes for the allocation of total personnel,health and technical personnel,and practice (assistant) personnel for all the CDCs ranged 0.0364-0.0427,0.0358-0.0430,and 0.0405-0.0512;while the indexes for the allocation of the three kinds of human resources for the CDCs in the western region of China ranged 0.0359-0.0527,0.0435-0.0597,and 0.0554-0.0784,which were obviously higher than those of the national average level,suggesting the most inequity in human resource allocation for the CDCs in the western regions in China.Based on the variations of regional Theil index,the most inequity was observed in the allocation of practicing (assistant) physicians for the CDCs in eastern region,western region,and China as a whole;the most inequity was also observed for the allocation of total personnel in the CDCs in central region of China.Conclusion Close attention should be paid to within-and between-region equity of health human resources allocation in CDCs in China while increasing the quantity of human resources of the CDCs for balanced human resource development in CDCs all over China.