A pharmacy desert is defined as an area where at least one-third of residents live more than a mile from the nearest pharmacy. Former University of Illinois Chicago professor Dima Qato coined the term, and her research shows Chicago has seen an increase in the number of pharmacy deserts on the South and West Sides since the pandemic began.

Reset learns more about the unequal distribution of pharmacies in the city and the impact it has on access to vital health services.

GUESTS: Dima Qato, Hygeia Centennial Chair and associate professor of pharmacy at University of Southern California

Esther Yoon-Ji Kang, reporter on WBEZ’s Race, Class and Communities desk