Posted at Dec 19, 2023, By Ben Jordan, TMJ4,
Milwaukee among 8 cities with the worst pharmacy desert disparities, study shows
Walgreens is planning to permanently close its third Milwaukee store in the past three months. The latest closure highlights the little-known issue of pharmacy deserts in Milwaukee. A 2021 study shows the city has some of the worst disparities in the country when it comes to proximity to pharmacies.
“I think the assumption is that most people live near a pharmacy and that’s not true,” said Dima Qato.
Qato is a professor and researcher at the University of Southern California. She authored a study on pharmacy deserts in the 30 most populated U.S. cities in 2021. She found Milwaukee was one of the eight with the worst disparities.
“What we found in Milwaukee for example, Black, majority Black or segregated Black neighborhoods, about 60 percent of them were pharmacy deserts compared to less than 18 percent of white neighborhoods, so there’s at least a threefold increase,” she said.
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