China's Development Assistance for Health on Key Tropical Diseases: A SWOT Analysis

Background WHO focused and gave priority on ten serious tropical diseases, while China has made remarkable achievements on tropical diseases control. In addition, China has a history of more than 60 years in the health assistance, however, its assistance for tropical diseases started late. Methods A qualitative questionnaire was distributed to inquiry the opinions of professionals on China9s health assistance on tropical diseases and published articles were searched to collect those data. SWOT analysis, as a tool of qualitative analysis, was used to classify and evaluate the current strengths, the weakness, the opportunities, and the threats of health assistance on tropical diseases in China.Results Based on SWOT analysis, the internal factors and external environments are obtained. The strengths are focused on China9s achievements on tropical diseases control, surveillance response system of tropical diseases, and human resources of public health; the weakness laid on sustainability of aid projects and funding, applicability of Chinese experience, and lack of composite talents; the opportunities are mainly in the global need of tropical diseases control, China9s health cooperation in Belt u0026 Road and Africa, and the actively participating of international organizations in health assistance; as well as the threats are reflected in the complex international situation, domestic needs of tropical diseases control, and the significant gaps between China and developed countries.Conclusion The internal strengths and weaknesses of development assistance for health on tropical diseases are clearly presented in the SWOT framework, as well as the external opportunities and threats and corresponding coping strategies. In the era of global health, China should strengthen and improve the health assistance for tropical diseases.