Journal of

Background and Aim: Health and equal access to quality care regardless of age, gender, race and location is health systems' goal in all countries. This study aimed to determine inequality in healthcare services distribution and development level of cities in Guilan province.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study assessed the distribution state of 13 healthcare indicators in all cities of Guilan (n=16) in year 2011 and 2013. In order to collect data, the database of Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) was used as reference. The taxonomy technique was employed to determine the degree of development of different cities. In addition, indicators were weighed by Shannon’s entropy. Finally, TOPSIS was used to rank the cities in term of access to health sector resources.
Results: Taxonomy technique in 2 years showed that Rudbar, Rudsar and Lahidjan were of most developed cities and Talesh, Rezvanshahr and Amlash were the most under-developed cities respectively. After weighting indicators and according to Shannon entropy, the number of specialists and paramedics gained the most and the least weight, respectively.
Conclusion: Due to the inequality in distribution of health resources in Guilan province, attention to underdeveloped cities in this province should be a priority. To achieve equitable health resources in Guilan, it is recommended that the plannings be based on state of development of cities.

Background and Aim: The healthcare sector plays an important role in the development of communities by ensuring the health of individuals in each community and can have many social and economic effects on the lives of individuals in the community. The purpose of this study was to determine the development of the country’s provinces based on health facilities and the level of access to these facilities, to find solutions to reduce differences between different parts of the country.
Materials and Methods: This study was an applied study with a descriptive-analytical approach. In this study, 31 provinces of the country have been studied in terms of 10 indicators. Data and information of this study were extracted from the national statistical yearbook and ranked using Center-weighted index method by using Excel software. Then, using taxonomy method, the degree of development of the provinces has been determined. 
Results: The results of the study show that South Khorasan province with a centrality index of 45,692 is in the first place, Yazd province with a centrality index of 43,933 is in the second place and Ilam province with a centrality index of 40,668 is in the third place. East Azerbaijan province with a centrality index of 27,375 is ranked 29th, Qom province with a centrality index of 25,417 is ranked 30th and Hormozgan province with a centrality index of 24,286 is ranked 31st. The degree of development of the provinces is between 0.507 to 0.98, which in terms of development of Yazd province is in the first rank and Hormozgan province is in the last rank.
Conclusion: The results show that there is a deep gap between the provinces in terms of development and access to health indicators; Therefore, it needs more attention and adopt the necessary policies and plans to reduce this gap.