Anthony Chen, MD (R), Director of Well being Emeritus for the Tacoma-Pierce County Well being Division, … [+]
There’s a saying that members of a soccer staff’s offensive line don’t get a lot recognition when they’re doing an incredible job defending the quarterback. They appear to get talked about solely when the offensive line make errors and get penalized. Effectively, the identical could possibly be mentioned about public well being. That’s why a new TV series about public health is called The Invisible Shield. This four-episode sequence will probably be making its PBS debut on March 26 at 10 pm and should convey extra visibility to the significance of public well being to you and everybody round you.
The “Defend” a part of the title comes from the truth that day by day the general public well being system and all its professionals work onerous to guard everybody from a variety of various well being threats. The “Invisible” half refers back to the lack of consideration that the general public well being system will get, the truth that there’s a complete lot extra discuss what celeb is sporting what, which politicians is saying what and who’s promoting which merchandise that you just don’t really want. As Kelly Henning, MD, who’s the Public Health Program Lead for Bloomberg Philanthropies and seems within the first episode of The Invisible Defend, defined, “The higher public well being works, the much less possible you might be to see it.” The tragic factor, although, is that this “invisible defend” has been crumbling for years, and most of the people can’t even see this as a result of the general public well being system is, you realize, largely invisible to them.
Kelly Henning, MD, who’s the Public Well being Program Lead for Bloomberg Philanthropies and appeared … [+]
The Covid-19 pandemic ought to have as soon as and for all uncovered how chronically underfunded, underappreciated and underwater public well being methods have been for years. If the general public well being system had had way more sources and help to cope with the extreme acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), think about what number of lives might been saved and the way way more struggling might have been averted. Political and enterprise leaders acknowledged this for, oh, possibly a second or two, earlier than going again to speaking about a few of their favourite topics, like themselves.
In actual fact, plenty of such leaders made issues even worse by propagating misinformation and disinformation about public well being. So, despite the fact that public well being received somewhat extra optimistic consideration for a short time in the course of the pandemic, the requisite quantity of sources didn’t actually comply with. What then will it take for everybody to appreciate that the general public well being system wants a complete lot extra help? May it take a catastrophe even larger than the Covid-19 pandemic and the next collapse of the general public well being system? That will be like ready till your constructing burns down earlier than questioning, “Hmm, possibly it might be a good suggestion to put in some smoke alarms, fireplace extinguishers and water sprinklers.”
Not ready till one other catastrophe occurs is the rationale behind this sequence that RadicalMedia produced with help from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Their purpose was to convey extra consideration to public well being. With so many celebrities, influencers, politicians and companies continuously hyping themselves and their very own merchandise, public well being and its lack of selling machines can get misplaced within the cacophony. And that can lead to individuals undervaluing the massive affect public well being has had in everybody’s lives. Give it some thought. If weren’t for public well being accomplishments resembling vaccination, antibiotics, clear water provides, and anti-pollution efforts, would you even be round as we speak to purchase into everybody’s hype and merchandise. “Public well being saved your life as we speak however you didn’t even comprehend it,” as Josh Sharfstein, MD, Distinguished Professor of the Apply at Johns Hopkins College of Public Well being acknowledged within the following trailer for The Invisible Defend:
Now, 4 episodes is nowhere close to the variety of episodes to actually element all that public well being has accomplished for you through the years. Heck, even Zack Snyder’s 2021 Justice League film was 4 hours and two minutes, though it felt like six hours and should have accomplished nothing for you. The primary episode entitled “The Previous Playbook” will cowl how public well being has helped double life expectancy since 1900 but additionally explains how the general public system is at the moment vulnerable to collapsing in some ways. This contains displaying how the general public well being system tried to use classes realized from prior epidemics and pandemics to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. However extra on that in a bit.
Episode 2 bears the identify “Observe the Knowledge,” and also you gained’t want a lot knowledge to determine what this episode will cowl. It is going to evaluate the important thing function that knowledge assortment and analyses have performed in serving to public well being. And it’ll make a case for the necessity for way more of those going ahead. With out correct sources and expertise, public well being methods will proceed to battle to search out the most effective options.
Subsequent will probably be Episode 3, which is titled “Inoculation & Inequity.” It will evaluate two main terrible issues which were actually hurting all of our society: the unfold of misinformation and disinformation about science and well being and the persevering with injustices and inequities that many ladies, individuals of coloration, immigrants, individuals of various sexual orientations and different minorities have been dealing with. As you might have in all probability seen, plenty of political and enterprise leaders have politicized the heck out of the Covid-19 pandemic, placing private achieve over the general public. This actually hampered the flexibility of the general public well being system to fight the SARS-CoV-2.
Lastly, Episode 4, “The New Playbook,” will look into the longer term and focus on what may be modified. After years of positive factors in life expectancy, life expectancy within the U.S. started dropping earlier than the Covid-19 pandemic. With all the aforementioned challenges, issues might worsen except large modifications are made.
Earlier than you deal with this sequence like medication and assume, “Do I’ve to take this,” the sequence will not be solely informative but additionally enjoyable and interesting to observe in it’s personal proper. It’s visually interesting and filled with compelling tales like that of Gregory Christopher, Senior Pastor of Tacoma’s Shiloh Baptist Church, who went from being skeptical about Covid-19 vaccines to a believer after attending to know Anthony Chen, MD, Director of Well being Emeritus for the Tacoma-Pierce County Well being Division. “It makes public well being extra comprehensible,” mentioned Henning. “Folks will wish to watch it.”
Henning additionally hopes that the viewing of the sequence continues nicely past its preliminary airing: “We wish to see this used extensively by college students, schools and different tutorial guides,” she mentioned. “It will possibly assist enhance understanding of objectives of public well being and assist individuals to get on board.” And possibly The Invisible Defend will immediate extra such TV sequence and films to be made about public well being. In any case, it’s time to make extra seen the defend that has been defending everybody all this time.
