Study the Development level of Provinces in Iran: A Focus on Health Indicators

Access to health care is one of the main goals in all societies. This study aimed to investigate the access level in provinces in Iran. This descriptive-applied and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012. Statistical population consisted of all provinces in Iran. Data were collected through library and online research. The Ministry of Health and Medical Education and Statistics Center of Iran as authorities of Information, were referred to for collecting relevant data. Taxonomy techniques were used to assess the of development level of provinces, Shannon entropy techniques were used to determine the weights of indicators and TOPSIS techniques were employed to rank states in terms of access to health care. Based on Taxonomy technique from among 31 provinces, 12 provinces were considered to be developed, 9 semi-developed and 10 underdeveloped. Based on Shannon entropy, the ratio of the number of pharmacists to province population was the most important indicator. According to TOPSIS, in term of access to health services; Markazi and Ardabil provinces ranked the first and the last respectively. Due to the large differences among provinces, planners and officials are recommended to allocate the funds according to the development level.