Emamgolipor sefiddashti S, Ghazanfari S. Ranking Islamic Republic of Iran’s Development Vision Countries in Term of Access to Healthcare Indicators. jha 2015; 17 (58) :58-71
URL:
http://jha.iums.ac.ir/article-1-1584-en.html
1- Tehran Medical University , Sadegh.ghazanfari@gmail.com
2- Tehran Medical University
Abstract: (6013 Views)
Introduction: There are several indicators to determine the level of development of a country or a region. Indicators of healthcare are among the most important indicators in every country.
Methods: This applied, descriptive, cross-sectional study surveyed all countries (n=24) in Iranian development vision in 2012. In order to collect data, the database of World Bank and World Health Organization were used as references. The taxonomy technique was employed to determine the degree of development of different countries. In addition, indices were weighed by Shannon’s entropy. Finally, technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was used to rank the countries in term of access to health sector indicators.
Results: Taxonomy technique showed that out of 24 countries under study, 10, 7, and 7 countries were developed, semi-developed, and under-developed, respectively. Shannon entropy introduced the incidence of tuberculosis as the most important indicator and the women’s life expectancy at birth the least significant indicator. According to TOPSIS, the countries of United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan ranked the first and the last (24th) in access to health services.
Conclusion: Considering that in 1404 Iran must be the first country in the region in terms of indicators of access to health care, we recommend all planners and officials to allocate funds to overcome the shortcomings of the indicators such as health care expenditure per capita in which Iran has not been successful yet.
Type of Study:
Research |
Received: 2014/05/18 | Accepted: 2014/12/15 | Published: 2014/12/15