Los Angeles Daily News, May 3, 2021.
Pharmacies are increasingly vital points of care for essential health services. In addition to filling prescriptions to treat chronic health conditions, pharmacists dispense emergency doses of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses, contraceptives to prevent unplanned pregnancy and COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.
“We focused on cities because of racial/ethnic residential segregation and the fact that more than 80% of the Black and Latino population in the U.S. live in cities,” said senior author Dima Mazen Qato, Hygeia Centennial Chair and associate professor of pharmacy at the USC School of Pharmacy and senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.
“Our findings suggest that addressing disparities in geographic access to pharmacies — including pharmacy closures — is imperative to improving access to essential medications and other health care services in segregated minority neighborhoods,” added Qato, who directs the Program on Medicines and Public Health.