Capability building and professional staff of schistosomiasis control institutions in Yunnan Province: a cross-sectional survey / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

ABSTRACT

To understand the current status of professional staff and capacity building among schistosomiasis control institutions in Yunnan Province, the data pertaining to the current status of professional staff and capacity building were captured from the schistosomiasis control institutions at all levels in Yunnan Province. There were 20 schistosomiasis control institutions at a level of above county in Yunnan Province, with 411 employees, and there were 11 institutions with an independent legal personality, with a mean building area of 69.83 m2 per capita. Among all institutions, the number of posts was 382, and the actual number of employees was 360, with 22 job vacancies. The mean age of professional staff was 41.6 years at a province level, 44.1 years at a city level and 42.4 years at a county level, and there were no professionals at ages of < 30 years in city-level institutions. Of all professionals, there were 45.76% with a college degree or below, and 54.26% with a bachelor degree or higher, and 16.55%, 24.57% and 39.90% had senior, moderate and primary professional titles, with mean ages of 49.10, 44.37 years and 38.36 years, respectively. The results of the cross-sectional study demonstrate that there are problems of job vacancy, population aging and low education levels in schistosomiasis control institutions in Yunnan Province. Therefore, the capability building and professional quality should be further improved in schistosomiasis control institutions to meet the requirements of schistosomiasis control activities in Yunnan Province.