The Assessment of Inequality in the Geographical Distribution of Burn Beds in Iran

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasized the importance of determining the equality of the distribution of healthcare resources. Inequalities in the healthcare system are one of the world’s most important developmental challenges, and the inefficiencies that exist in healthcare systems are the most important reason for these challenges. Thermal burns are one of the common injuries worldwide, and their effects are a significant reason for the mortality and morbidity rates throughout the world. Considering the importance of burns as one of the 30 leading causes of death in Iran, this study was aimed to compare the distribution of burn beds with its disability-adjusted life years (DALY) in Iran. METHODS: This applied analytic-descriptive study was conducted in order to determine the distribution of burn beds in Iran using the Lorenz curve. In this way, the distribution of burn beds was analyzed in relation to the population of each province and lost DALY caused by burns in Iran. For each province, the number of burn beds in 2012 was collected from credible and authoritative sources at the Ministry of Health, and the population of each province was obtained using data from the National Center of Statistics. The data were analyzed and presented using Microsoft Office Excel. RESULTS: Isfahan and Khorasan Razavi Provinces had approximately 11 and 10.4% of the country’s burn beds, respectively. The Provinces that had the most DALY were Sistan Baluchestan, Fars, and Kerman with 10.75%, 10.34%, and 9.54%, respectively. The Gini coefficients of burn beds in relation to population and DALY were calculated as 0.09 and 0.16, respectively. CONCLUSION: The Gini coefficients in relation to population and DALY were less than 0.2. Although the Gini coefficient of the burn beds in relation to DALY was more than that for the population, the difference was not significant, and the distributions of beds regarding the two calculated coefficients were equal. It is recommended that healthcare policymakers distribute burn beds in proportion to the populations of the provinces.