Analysis of rural health development indicators in Wasit Governorate

Abstract

This research aims to analyze rural health development indicators in Wasit Governorate. To achieve this, the numerical and relative distribution was analyzed, along with variables related to health services, including health centers, physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and nursing and health professionals, for the rural population in the study area. The efficiency of these services was measured using several indicators: health center/population index, doctor/population index, dentist/population index, and pharmacist/population index. The results showed that some criteria were positive while others were negative. The researcher represented the reality of health services using Geographic Information Systems software. Most health indicators in the rural study area fall outside planning limits; health center and doctor indicators are clearly insufficient, dentist and pharmacist indicators are within acceptable limits, and health professionals and nurse indicators fall below the standard, showing shortages and high pressure in these categories.