MEASURING INEQUALITY IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF HUMAN HEALTH RESOURCES: A CASE STUDY OF QAZVIN PROVINCE

Achieving justice in the distribution of health services is one of the main goals of
the health system. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine equality in the distribution of health
human resources (physicians) of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences before and after the health
transformation plan based on Gini coefficient.
Materials & Methods: In the present descriptive-analytical and applied study, the statistical population
was general practitioners, specialists, and subspecialists of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences
during the years 2012 to 2018. Demographic statistics of the cities were extracted from the statistical
yearbooks of the Statistics Center of Iran and physicians' statistics from the Vice-Chancellor for
Treatment and Health of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences and inequality was measured using
Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve in Excel 2016 and Stata 16 software.
Results: According to the results, the highest number of general practitioners in 2015, specialists and
subspecialists in 2018 and the lowest number were in 2017, 2012 and 2016, respectively. Also, the Gini
coefficient of general practitioners in the years 2012 to 2018 was in the range of 0.61 and 0.63 and for
specialist physicians, the lowest Gini coefficient was observed in 2016 (0.57) and the highest was found
in 2018 (0.60) and it was 0.52 for subspecialists from 2012 to 2018.
Conclusion: According to the Gini coefficient, inequality in the distribution of general practitioners in
the province did not change after the health transformation plan, and among the specialist and
subspecialty physicians, the Gini coefficient was in the range of inequality to high. The transformation
plan was not successful in the equal distribution of manpower, so it is necessary to redistribute and
implement distribution policies.