Inequities in the allocation of medical resources in China’s Township Health Centers
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to produce a high-quality measure of the nature of healthcare resources available in China’s Township Health Centers (THCs), paying particular attention to equity between high- and low-income areas.
Design/methodology/approach
This study makes use of data from a nearly nationally representative survey in rural China conducted by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011. The samples of towns were selected randomly from 25 counties located in five provinces from different regions of China. Data were collected through questionnaires and direct observation.
Findings
The THCs located in rich areas have higher levels of human resources than poor areas. THCs in rich areas also have more fixed assets than those in poor areas. In fact, even though the Chinese Ministry of Health mandates that all THCs have certain basic levels of medical equipment and facilities, many THCs in poor areas do not have them. The allocation of mandated equipment is unequal.
Practical implications
These findings suggest that China’s government should pay more attention to THCs located in poor areas, especially in light of new initiatives to improve health care in poor rural areas.
Originality/value
This is the first nationally representative study to employ rigorous empirics to investigate the extent of inequality in allocation of resources within THCs across China.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are supported by the 111 Project (Grant No. B16031). The authors acknowledge the financial assistance of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 71110107028 and 71033003), Shaanxi Science and Technology Research and Development Project (Grant No. 2012KR2-05), the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation and the Ford Foundation.
Citation
Ma, Y., Zhang, L. and Boswell, M. (2016), "Inequities in the allocation of medical resources in China’s Township Health Centers", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 637-646. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-11-2015-0170
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited