Equity in distribution of hospital beds in Iran

Equitable distribution of health system resources and hospital beds is crucial for an acceptable level of health for all the people of the country. The aim of this study was to examine the equity in distribution of hospital beds in Iran.

In this descriptive and cross sectional study data were collected from Ministry of Health and Medical Education and Iranian statistics Center. The study population consisted of all Iranian hospitals in 2016. The equity in the distribution of hospitals’ beds was evaluated using the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient. Excel software was used for data analysis.

Iranian population was 79,926,270 and there were 930 hospitals with 118,894 beds in 2016. (1.2 hospitals per 100,000 population and 1.5 hospital beds per 1000 population). Yazd, Semnan and Tehran provinces had the highest hospital beds per 1000 population. About 17% of the total hospitals and 22% of the hospital beds were located in Tehran. The Gini coefficient for hospital bed distribution among Iranian provinces was 0.107. Distribution of the hospital beds was equitable in Alborz and Yazd provinces and inequitable in North Khorasan, Sistan & Baluchestan and Charmahal & Bakhtiary provinces.

The distribution of hospital beds among Iranian provinces has been fair. However, hospital beds were not distributed equitably among the cities in the provinces and were concentrated in the capital cities of the provinces of the country. Healthcare policymakers should take appropriate measures to reduce inequality in the distribution of hospital beds.