Analysis of the relationship between distributions of health sector inputs and health outcomes in Iran; using Gini coefficient

Theconcept of justice is one of the important criteria in the distribution of resources and access to health services. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the distribution of health inputs and health outcomes in the health sector in Iran (2000 – 2008)Thisdescriptive-analytical study is retrospective. STATA software was used to calculate the Gini coefficient for each of the variables (general practitioners and specialists, nurses and beds). We also used STATA software to determine the correlation between each of the variables and health status (mortality and maternal mortality). Gini coefficient for Nurses has declined over the studied years, while it has not declined for hospital beds, and it has even increased for physicians. Each Gini coefficient was separately analyzed to determine the correlation of them with child and maternal mortality. There was only a significant relationship between Gini coefficient of nurses and children mortality (P = 0.009) and there was an adverse significant relationship between the Gini coefficient of physicians and children mortality (P = 0.03).There cannot be a firm reason for the improvements in health indicators as a result of the improvements of equity in accessto physicians, nurses and hospital beds; so the improvements of these indicators can be a result of improvements in science and technology, human force skills and also increases of public awareness in health fields.