Abstract
US pharmacies tend to be located at intersections of major cross streets throughout a city, while in the case of Mexican border cities pharmacies are clustered close to US-Mexico border crossings. Presumably this is due to the volume of US clients who frequent the pharmacies. Although the precise number of border crossings to purchase medications is unclear, it is thought to be significant. In the past, patient-based surveys were the primary source for information regarding US residents crossing the border into Mexico for prescription medications. The current study examines the distribution of pharmacies throughout Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, recording the change in the number of pharmacies over a 15-year period and suggesting the scale of US residents who use Mexican pharmacies. Field research was conducted in 1996 and 2011. Maps showing the location of pharmacies for these two years indicate a clustering of pharmacies within one and one-half miles of the city’s two principal border-crossings between the United States and Mexico. Provider-based surveys revealed that the majority of patients who use pharmacies closest to the border were US residents.
Highlights
The border region between the United States and Mexico is an area of shared history but varied cultures, diverse income levels, and dissimilar political environments
The distance between the two main border crossing points is approximately two miles, and with the border zone of one and one-half miles from each crossing point, the border zone has an area of approximately 7.5 square miles
Since the majority of the new facilities opened in Juárez during the study period are in the border zone, it strongly suggests that these facilities serve US citizen demand for pharmacy services
Summary
The border region between the United States and Mexico is an area of shared history but varied cultures, diverse income levels, and dissimilar political environments. The actual population of Juárez is difficult to determine because: 1) migrants flock into the city seeking employment in the maquiladoras (manufacturing operations in the free trade zone) and are often not counted in the census and 2) many residents leave the city due to violence [2]. Taking these issues into consideration, the population of Juárez in 2011 is thought to be approximately 1,298,004. Since these two crossing accounted for most of the traffic during the study period, they served as the focus of this research
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