UT Outpost should offer over-the-counter medications
September 12, 2022
The UT Outpost is a great resource for students who face financial obstacles or simply don’t have the time to go buy necessities. It offers a variety of resources such as food and professional clothing.
However, UT Outpost doesn’t offer over-the-counter medication, and with the recent price increases, students are put in a tough position deciding whether they need the medication or the money. To make basic health necessities more accessible, UT Outpost should offer free over-the-counter medications.
Computer science sophomore Tiffany Kao often utilizes the UT Outpost and described her experiences and hopes for this student resource.
“I don’t come from a very rich family. So if I can save some money, then of course, I’m gonna save some money,” Kao said. “Advil is actually really expensive. … In the case where you would only need a few, I think the Outpost would be good.”
Because the Outpost does not include these resources, it can disproportionately and negatively impact students on campus who may not have easy access to over-the-counter medication. This contributes to health inequity issues within UT’s student body.
UT Outpost coordinator Valeria Martin provided some insight into what obstacles prevent UT Outpost staff from providing over-the-counter medication at their facility.
“Currently, our team here is trained to be able to process donations related to food and clothing,” Martin said. “However, medication can bring a lot of different challenges when it comes to that. … We don’t have that training to be able to process donations related to medication.”
As Martin states, expanding UT Outposts’ resources to include providing and taking donations for over-the-counter medication would be a new undertaking and have some challenges. However, this practice isn’t completely unprecedented. Many donation drive centers throughout the state accept over-the-counter medication donations, meaning it would be feasible for UT to train its staff to do the same.
Lack of education concerning healthcare resources and financial barriers can often prevent students from prioritizing their physical health. UT needs to make these “health first” decisions easier for students. The hectic everyday schedule, financial barriers and even factors such as distance from a pharmacy can continually make maintaining one’s physical well-being very difficult. Our student body has a pressing need for accessible, day-to-day medications.
The UT Outpost, with an established presence as a go-to donation drive center on campus, would be a great way to alleviate this problem. By including over-the-counter medications in their resources, UT can directly help students and address our health inequity crisis.
Zhang is a sociology sophomore from Katy, Texas.
