Objective:

To analyze the potential accessibility to health human resources in the first level of attention in health care by the inhabitants without health insurance living in the municipal towns of the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina), and its relationship with the health care needs and relative wealth of each district.

Material and methods:

It is a quantitative and retrospective study that analyses five indicators of access to health human resources of the first level of health care, which are calculated based on i) the population without health coverage of each municipal town and ii) the availability of different kinds of human resources in the first level of health care. To estimate the health needs, the infant mortality rate and the percentage of households with unsatisfied basic needs were used as proxy variables. Municipal relative wealth is estimated using the per capita Gross Geographic product.

Results:

We found strong inequalities in the distribution of health manpower working in the first level of health care between municipal towns. These differences cannot be justified by different needs of health care services. On the contrary, the availability of human resources is positively associated with the relative wealth of each district.

Conclusions:

The evidence presented suggests that in the province of Buenos Aires the availability of human resources in the first level of health care does not accompany the health care needs of the population without health coverage, suggesting the existence of inequities in access to primary health care services, which could exacerbate inequities in health outcomes.

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