Broken Promises: Racism and Access to Medicines in Canada

Discriminatory policies, attitudes, and practices have had deleterious impacts on the health of Black, Indigenous, and other racialized groups. The aim of this study was to investigate racism as barrier to access to medicines in Canada. The study investigated the characteristics of structural racism and implicit biases that affect medicines access. A scoping review using the STARLITE literature retrieval approach and analysis of census tract data in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, were undertaken. Government documents, peer-reviewed articles from public policy, health, pharmacy, social sciences, and gray literature were reviewed. Structural racism that created barriers to access to medicines and vaccines was identified in policy, law, resource allocation, and jurisdictional governance. Institutional barriers included health care providers’ implicit biases about racialized groups, immigration status, and language. Pharmacy deserts in racialized communities represented a geographic barrier to access. Racism corrupts and impedes equitable allocation and access to medicine in Canada. Redefining racism as a form of corruption would obligate societal institutions to investigate and address racism within the context of the law as opposed to normative policy. Public health policy, health systems, and governance reform would remove identified barriers to medicines, vaccines, and pharmaceutical services by racialized groups.