Distribution of Pharmacies in Kerman Province Using Gini Coefficient

  Zahra Meshkani¹, Mohsen Barouni², Somaye Moalemi³*, Tooraj Harati ¹ , Shahla Jafari ¹

Received: 08. 03. 2015                               Revised: 27. 06. 2015                                    Accepted: 30. 06. 2015

1. MSc,Health Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

2. Assistant Professor, Health Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

3. Msc, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

 Abstract:

  Introduction: Justice and its realization has always been a goal of utopian reformers and leaders in various governments throughout the history. Achieving this goal is the most basic principle of social systems during different periods of human intellectual and social life. Inequities should be decreased between social subgroups in order to gain justice.Attention to inequalities are necessary to ensure all sections of society's access to health resources and optimum resource allocation. Because of the importance of pharmacies in delivering drugs to people and consequently preventing from intensity of diseases and reducing the days lost from work and increasing national production, in this paper the distribution of pharmacies has been studied in 2006-2011.

  Method: This survey was a retrospective practical study. Data was gathered from Statistical Center of Iran and Kerman Food and Drugs Administrationof Kerman Medical University in 2006-2011. After entering the data into the software and sorting it from the lowest to the highest, the researchers calculated the share of population and sectors' share of pharmacies from the total of them and then cumulative percentage of the population and pharmacies. In the last section, Lorenz curve was plotted putting the cumulative percentage of variables against each other. Gini index was calculated using the software Stata 11.

  Results: Gini coefficient had a decreasing trend in Kerman in the period between 2006-2011. Gini index is about 0.4 during the period of 2006-2009 and 0.3 during 2009-2011. So the distribution of pharmacies was in equitable, and redistribution of some of them was necessary.

  Conclusion: Access to pharmacies to receive medicines for patients, especially in rural and deprived areas, are important. As reasons of the unequal distribution of pharmacies one can mention lack of attention to age and gender density and the burden of disease in the region and also paying too much attention to economic situation of communities. Government intervention and its participation in the investment with private sector in the establishment of pharmacies in under served areas can reduce inequality and help timely access to drugs for people.

  Key­words: Justice, Gini coefficient, Lorenz curve, Pharmacies

 Citation: Meshkani Z, Barouni M, Moalemi S, Harati T, Jafari S . Distribution of Pharmacies in Kerman Province Using Gini Coefficient. Journal of Health Based Research 2015 1(1): 25-35.

  * Correspondence: Shiraz, Zand Street, University of Shiraz Medical Sciences, Centre for Research on Social Determinants of Health

                                                                         Email: mang.eco_moalemi@yahoo.com