Equity of resources allocation in obstetric healthcare in Zhejiang Province

Abstract

Objective To measure the equity of resources allocation in obstetric healthcare in Zhejiang Province, and provide evidence for decision making by healthcare departments of the government. Methods Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient were used to measure the equity of obstetric healthcare resources. Results The investigation found such allocation as equitable as measured by the layout of the number of live births, as the Gini coefficient of the distribution of obstetric doctors, nurses and beds was 0.1697,0.1971 and 0.1497 respectively by total birth, failing within the equitable range. However, when measured by geographic distribution, such coefficient were 0.2701, 0.3216 and 0.3341 respectively in cities, which were less equitable yet still within equitable range. Conclusions The government and health bureaus are recommended to scientifically predict the number of immigrants and rationally deploy healthcare resources according to the service radius of healthcare resources;moreover, more gynecologic doctors and nurses should be trained to improve the human resource structure in gynecologic departments. These effort can cater to the growing healthcare demands of the society resulting from a growing population of immigrants. Key words: Equity; Healthcare resource allocation; Deployment; Obstetric; Gini coefficient