Development Inequality and Lost Human Capital due to Early Death in Iran: A Comparative Study of Two Provinces of Yazd and Sistan & Baluchistan in 2016

Human resources, especially youth work force, are considered as the main capital for every society. Maintaining the quantity and quality of human resources is essential for every policymaking. The present study was conducted to estimate the Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to early death amongst the working age population (i.e. 15-64 years) of two provinces with very different levels of socio-economic development in Iran. For this purpose, premature mortality was compared between Yazd and Sistan & Baluchistan provinces in 2016. 

This cross-sectional study used secondary data. The target statistical population of the study was all deaths registered in the age groups 15 to 64 years in the provinces of Yazd and Sistan & Baluchistan during March 2016 to March 2017. The mentioned provinces reflect completely different and unequal development at the national level: Yazd is amongst one of the highly developed regions of Iran, while Sistan & Baluchistan is as one of underdeveloped provinces. The data were obtained from health departments of Yazd and Sistan & Baluchistan provinces’ medical universities. The YLL was calculated according to the standard procedure provided by the World Health Organization. 

Our findings showed that the lost human capital due to early death was about two times higher in Sistan & Baluchistan compared to Yazd. The main causes of death were unintentional injuries in the younger working age group (15-44 years) and cardiovascular disease and cancers in the older working age group (45-64 years).  

Causes of death were different in Yazd and Sistan & Baluchistan provinces according to the regional level of development. Therefore, health policies have to be implemented as regional policies. In general, the results showed that as the epidemiologic transition passes, the cause of death changes from causes that are less related to medical conditions and more related to social situations. Consequently, it is required to consider social policymaking when designing health policies.