title: Equitable Distribution of Public Hospitals According to Health Needs in Malaysia: Does It Exist or Not?
abstract: The goal of ensuring geographic equity of health care can be achieved if the geographic distribution of health care services is according to the health needs. This study aims to examine whether acute Ministry of Health hospital beds are distributed according to population health needs in various states within Peninsular Malaysia. The health needs of each state are indicated by the crude death rate. Comparisons of the share of hospital beds to that of population with differential health needs were assessed using concentration curve and index. In most years between 1995 and 2010, the distribution of hospital beds in Peninsular Malaysia were concentrated among states with higher health needs. This is in line with the principle of vertical equity and could be one advantage of a central federal government that can allocate health care resources to prioritize states with higher health care needs.
authors.affiliation: University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ganscmail@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saw Chien
authors.affiliation: University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chee-Khoon
authors.affiliation: University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Victor Hoe Chee
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Wai
authors.affiliation: University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chiu Wan
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia
keywords: concentration curve; concentration index; crude death rate; health care needs; health care resources; health equity; hospital beds; universal health coverage