Published on Nov. 10, 2023, By Anika Nayak, STAT
How pharmacy deserts are putting the health of Black and Latino Americans at risk
As pharmacies shutter stores across the U.S., people in low-income and predominantly Black, Latino, and Indigenous neighborhoods are increasingly left in pharmacy deserts, without easy access to medications and other essentials. In November 2021, CVS announced that it would be closing 300 stores a year across the country in the next three years, and Rite Aid, which filed for bankruptcy in October, plans to close at least 150 stores in the next several months.
“Pharmacy deserts have been a longstanding issue that has gotten worse with recent closures of both independent and chain pharmacies,” said Dima Qato, an associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, who studies disparities in geographic access to pharmacies and spent more than a decade working as a community pharmacist in Chicago. That lack of access can have major consequences for the health of people living in marginalized communities.
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