Inequality in distribution of health care resources in Iran: Human resources, health centers and hospital beds

Abstract

Background: One of the most important goals of health systems is equality in access to health services and one of the important dimensions of health equality in relation to resources distribution in this sector. Objectives: This study was done to examine the equality in resource distribution between provinces of Iran in 2014. Methods: In the present retrospective study, the population included the public health sector human resources, hospital beds, and health centers in Iran. The data were collected from the Iran statistics center and ministry of health and Medical education. The inequality was estimated by Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient, Hoover index, and by using Excel and Stata 12 software. Results: The Gini coefficients were 0.13797, 0.19980, and 0.1499 for the manpower, health care centers, and hospital beds, respectively. Thus, they were significant. In addition, the Hoover index was 7, 8.60, and 6.70 for the three studied resources, respectively. Conclusions: The distribution of the health sector resources between Iran provinces was relatively equal. Therefore, health policy makers should be focused on the other aspects of accessibility such as distribution of resources according to health needs, resources distribution within provinces, and quality of provided services.