Mei Sun

Food traceability systems in China: The current status of and future perspectives on food supply chain databases, legal support, and technological research and support for food safety regulation

Over the past few decades, the field of food security has witnessed numerous problems and incidents that have garnered public attention. Given this serious situation, the food traceability system (FTS) has become part of the expanding food safety continuum to reduce the risk of food safety problems. This article reviews a great deal of the related literature and results from previous studies of FTS to corroborate this contention. This article describes the development and benefits of FTS in developed countries like the United States of America (USA), Japan, and some European countries. Problems with existing FTS in China are noted, including a lack of a complete database, inadequate laws and regulations, and lagging technological research into FTS. This article puts forward several suggestions for the future, including improvement of information websites, clarification of regulatory responsibilities, and promotion of technological research.

Regional Disparities in Prenatal Care Services in Rural China

The study compared the prenatal care programs in the Central–East, Northwest, and Southwest regions of China. Data were collected on 14 indicators of the quality of the prenatal care process, as well as the percentage of women with high-risk pregnancies who were screened. The average number of prenatal examinations for those women who received prenatal care was 5.01, and 62.6% of pregnant women had their first examination within 12 weeks of their pregnancy. About 35% of these pregnant women had at least 1 high-risk screening, and 20.8% had 3 high-risk screenings. Among the 3 regions, the Central–East region had the best overall quality prenatal services, and the Northwest area had the poorest quality. The quality of prenatal health care in poor, rural China is in need of improvement.

Epidemiological Study of Spinal Cord Injury Individuals from Halfway Houses in Shanghai, China

Objective: To describe the characteristics of spinal cord injury (SCI) individuals in Shanghai and examine their treatment and rehabilitation for traumatic and complete SCI individuals. Design: Community-based secondary data analyses. Setting: Shanghai, China. Methods: We analyzed gender, age at injury, complications, disturbances of function, treatment, etiology, and severity of injury of SCI individuals that enrolled in “halfway houses”, government-supported community co-op centers. Bivariate statistical analyses were conducted to examine the factors associated with complete and traumatic SCI. Results: We analyzed 808 SCI individuals who participated in halfway houses in Shanghai during 2009–2015. The male-to-female ratio was 2.1:1. The proportion of middle or elder age groups at injury (age 46 to 60 and age 61 or over) showed a rising trend from 1970 to 2015. The leading causes of SCIs in Shanghai were traumatic injuries (58%), followed by disease (29.5%). The proportion of traumatic injuries decreased over time, while the proportion of non-traumatic injuries rose significantly. A majority of traumatic injury individuals were aged between 16–45. Conclusion: The middle or elder age groups at injury among SCI individuals increased continuously from 1970 to 2015. The principal causes of injury in Shanghai were traumatic injuries and disease-related injuries. Men had a higher prevalence of traumatic SCI in Shanghai. Preventive measures should focus on male and middle-aged adults. As a fast-aging society in Shanghai, more effective prevention, medical care, and rehabilitation schemes should be implemented for aging SCI individuals.

ASSESSMENT OF UNIVERSAL NEWBORN HEARING SCREENING AND INTERVENTION IN SHANGHAI, CHINA.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) and intervention program in Shanghai, China. METHODS This study included the quantitative analyses of the UNHS-Shanghai database in 2002-12 and qualitative assessment of the program. The Otoacoustic Emissions and the Automated Auditory Brainstem Evoked Responses tests were conducted in screening. The costs and benefits were calculated based on the number of participants in each stage. The short-term and long-term periods were defined as from birth to 15 years of age or to death (82-year-olds), respectively. Sensitivity analyses were conducted. RESULTS A total 1,574,380 newborns were included, representing 93.6 percent of all eligible babies in Shanghai during the study period. The prevalence of newborn hearing loss was 1.66‰. The short-term/long-term program costs were ¥488.5 million (US

Evaluation on the efficiencies of county-level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in China: results from a national survey

75.52 million)/¥1.08 billion (US

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention System in China: Trends From 2002–2012

167.12 million), and the short-term/long-term program benefit was ¥980.1 million (US

Impact evaluation of the routine hepatitis B vaccination program of infants in China

151.53 million)/¥8.13 billion (US

The public health emergency management system in China: trends from 2002 to 2012

1.26 billion). The program benefit was greater than its cost if the proportion of hearing-loss children enrolled in regular schools was no less than 41.4 percent of all hearing impaired children, as well as if the wage growth rate ranged from 3 percent to 8 percent. Qualitative results also suggested that stakeholders strongly supported this program. CONCLUSIONS The universal newborn hearing screening and intervention program in Shanghai is justified in terms of the resource input in the long run, although there is still room for further improvement with respect to educational rehabilitation and a better infrastructure system.

Effect of the new maternity insurance scheme on medical expenditures for caesarean delivery in Wuxi, China: a retrospective pre/post-reform case study

The Chinese government has greatly increased funding for disease control and prevention since the 2003 Severe Acute Respiration Syndrome crisis, but it is also concerned whether these increased resources have been used efficiently to improve public health services. We aimed to assess the efficiency of county‐level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs) of China and to identify strategies for optimising their performance.

Factors impacting the use of antenatal care and hospital child delivery services: a case study of rural residents in the Enshi Autonomous Prefecture Hubei Province China.

OBJECTIVES To assess the improvements of the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs) system between 2002 and 2012, and problems the system has encountered. METHODS We obtained data from 2 national cross-sectional surveys in 2006 and 2013, including 32 provincial, 139 municipal, and 489 county-level CDCs throughout China. We performed a pre-post comparative analysis to determine trends in resource allocation and service delivery. RESULTS The overall completeness of public health services significantly increased from 47.4% to 76.6%. Furthermore, the proportion of CDC staff with bachelors or higher degrees increased from 14.6% to 32.6%, and governmental funding per CDC increased 5.3-fold (1.283-8.098 million yuan). The working area per CDC staff increased from 37.9 square meters to 63.3 square meters, and configuration rate of type A devices increased from 28.1% to 65.0%. Remaining problems included an 11.9% reduction in staff and the fact that financial investments covered only 71.1% of actual expenditures. CONCLUSIONS Chinas CDC system has progressed remarkably, enabling quicker responses to emergent epidemics. Future challenges include establishing a sustainable financing mechanism and retaining a well-educated, adequately sized public health workforce.