Abstract
BackgroundA reasonable allocation of health resources is often characterized by equity and high efficiency. This study aims to evaluate the equity and efficiency of maternal and child health (MCH) resources allocation in Hunan Province, China.MethodsData related to MCH resources and services was obtained from the Hunan maternal and child health information reporting and management system. The Gini coefficient and data envelopment analysis (DEA) were employed to evaluate the equity and efficiency of MCH resources allocation, respectively.ResultsThe MCH resources allocation in terms of demographic dimension were in a preferred equity status with the Gini values all less than 0.3, and the Gini values for each MCH resources’ allocation in terms of the geographical dimension ranged from 0.1298 to 0.4256, with the highest values in the number of midwives and medical equipment (≥ CNY 10,000), which exceeds 0.4, indicating an alert of inequity. More than 40% regions in Hunan were found to be relatively inefficient with decreased return to scale in the allocation of MCH resources, indicating those inefficient regions were using more inputs than needed to obtain the current output levels.ConclusionsThe equity of MCH resources by population size is superior by geographic area and the disproportionate distribution of the number of medical equipment (≥ CNY 10,000) and midwives between different regions was the main source of inequity. Policy-makers need to consider the geographical accessibility of health resources among different regions to ensure people in different regions could get access to available health services. More than 40% of regions in Hunan were found to be inefficient, with using more health resources than needed to produce the current amount of health services. Further investigations on factors affecting the efficiency of MCH resources allocation is still needed to guide regional health plans-making and resource allocation.
Highlights
A reasonable allocation of health resources is often characterized by equity and high efficiency
The equity of maternal and child health (MCH) resources allocation The MCH resources allocation in terms of demographic dimension were in a preferred equity status with the Gini values all less than 0.3
The equity of MCH resources by population size is superior by geographic area and the disproportionate distribution of the number of medical equipment (≥ CNY 10,000) and midwives between different regions was the main source of inequity
Summary
A reasonable allocation of health resources is often characterized by equity and high efficiency. This study aims to evaluate the equity and efficiency of maternal and child health (MCH) resources allocation in Hunan Province, China. The maternal and child health (MCH) care is the key component of almost every health system in worldwide. It is an essential part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, which includes targets to “reduce the global maternal mortality ratio and deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age” [1]. While there have been studies suggesting that these geographic disparities may result in part from the differences in the degree of equity and efficiency in allocating MCH resources among different regions [5, 6]
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