Analysis of medical resources for allocation equity using traditional Chinese medicine resource as a model.

Abstract

This study is designed to analyse current allocation equity of medical resources in China for a better distribution of medical resources. Descriptive statistical methods were used to analyse the overall allocation of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) resources between 2012 and 2018. Lorentz curve and Gini coefficient were used to quantitatively analyse the fairness of the allocation from the population and geography two dimensions. This study revealed an increase of TCM resources for the 6-year period, but the fair allocation of these resources was subjected to the methods used. The Gini coefficients were <0.3 based on population distribution but >0.5 basing on the geography allocation. Population based analysis for the equity of the TCM resource allocation is superior, more attention for health resource planning is needed to focus on geographical fairness in the future, especially for the less populated rural regions.