Research on equity of medical resource allocation in Yangtze River Economic Belt under healthy China strategy

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess the fairness of medical resource allocation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, based on the Healthy China strategy. It aimed to identify the issues with resource allocation fairness and provide optimization suggestions.

Methods: To assess the allocation fairness from a geographical population perspective, the study used the Health Resource Concentration and Entropy Weight TOPSIS methods. Additionally, the study analyzed the allocation fairness from an economic level angle, using the Concentration Curve and Concentration Index.

Results: The study found that the downstream area had higher resource allocation fairness than the midstream and upstream areas. The middle reaches had more resources than the upper and lower reaches, based on population concentration. The Entropy Weight TOPSIS method found that Shanghai, Zhejiang, Chongqing, and Jiangsu had the highest comprehensive score index of agglomeration. Furthermore, from 2013 to 2019, the fairness of medical resource distribution gradually improved for different economic levels. Government health expenditure and medical beds were distributed more equitably, while general practitioners had the highest level of unfairness. However, except for medical and health institutions, traditional Chinese medicine institutions, and primary health institutions, other medical resources were mostly distributed to areas with better economic conditions.

Conclusion: The study found that the fairness of medical resource allocation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt varied greatly based on geographical population distribution, with inadequate spatial accessibility and service accessibility. Although the fairness of distribution based on economic levels improved over time, medical resources were still concentrated in better economic areas. The study recommends improving regional coordinated development to enhance the fairness of medical resource allocation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Keywords: Yangtze River Economic Belt; data envelopment analysis; equality; health equalities; healthy China strategy.