Pharmacy deserts are growing across the country, leaving large numbers of patients without access to lifesaving medications. The problem is felt especially acutely in Milwaukee, where corporate chains are closing locations and leaving swathes of the city without pharmacy services. We spoke with the independent pharmacies stepping up to serve those areas to ask them how their patients’ lives are affected by the lack of access, and what it’s like working with those communities. Our new mini-documentary shows what the work is like, and shares their stories in their own words.
For more information on pharmacy access issues, NCPA members can read this month’s issue of America's Pharmacist®, which delves further into the experiences of pharmacists serving the underserved. It also features an interview with Dima Mazen Qato, PharmD, MPH, PhD, a respected expert on pharmacy deserts and pharmacy access and co-director of the USC-NCPA Pharmacy Access Initiative, which produces resources and conducts research that policy officials, academics, industry leaders, and others can use to identify and address the unmet need for access to pharmacy services across the country.
NCPA members can read the magazine issue here. You can see the work of the USC-NCPA Pharmacy Access Initiative here, including an interactive map of pharmacy deserts across the country.
