Titanic Submarine & Public Health? 🤔

What connection does public health have to the titanic submarine 🤔? It shows the disconnection of our society and it is fascination with wealth over marginalized.

You probably have heard about the titanic submarine by now. But if you didn't let me give you a TLDR to catch you up.

A five person "submarine" voyaged to explore the Titanic
Four passengers paid $250,000 each for this voyage (yes, a total of a million dollars 👀)
Two passengers were Billionaires, one was crew member, the other two others
The submarine started its descent to the Titanic around 8am EST Sunday 18 June
At around 9:45am EST, communications is lost to the submarine and rescue officials are notified
The submarine is scheduled to resurface at 3pm EST on Sunday 18th June. It does not and it is said to be lost
Rescue missions were started and kept going through Thursday 22nd June
The submarine had enough to last until Thursday 22nd June
Thursday 22nd June around 2pm EST, debris was found and later confirmed to be the submarine after implosion
An estimated $6.5 million+ is spent by US, Canadian, and French Rescue efforts to no avail

Now that we are all caught up. Did you hear about the 300+ Pakistani nationals that died earlier in June after their overcrowded ship capsized when they were actively and direly trying to escape war, persecution, and poverty?

I'm guessing you were less likely to hear about this. This highlights the growing importance of having public health people in this world - we need to end the double standard. Working to protect and empower these types of communities that don't have a voice. That are left to the margins and forgotten.

Could you imagine what $250,000 could have done for these 300 Pakistani's? In Pakistan, a family of four could live for $1,000/month, excluding rent. These Pakistani's died because they did not have a choice. It was either they suffer and die in Pakistan under the economic collapse or they die trying to go to a better life. None of these men and women are to blame for the economic hardships that they lived in.

This is in contrast to the billionaires that spent life changing amounts of money to see the Titanic. Which I would argue is best seen through a movie. This was a CHOICE; an adventure these people wanted to go on.

This is a huge tragedy, and it shows that this world is explicitly set up to serve the haves. Why didn't the US, France, and Canada spend $6.5+ million to support refugee efforts? What if they worked with the Pakistani government to improve economic conditions (Meh, not too confident in world powers working altruistically for less developed nations 👀)

What money is allocated towards shows morally what is prioritized in society. This is true for the media that spent days covering the Titanic submarine and much less so the refugee deaths. This is true for the money paid on rescue efforts for the top 1%, and the lack there of, for the bottom 1%. It is also true for:

The US spends ~$3.6 trillion annually on health, less than 3% of this is directed towards public health and prevention
The slashing of public health funding in 2018 (and in the face of COVID 19)
County and municipality budgets that spend more on police enforcement than social determinant needs
Health systems underinvestment into systemic community health improvement efforts

We, public health professionals, need to raise our voices. We have to further these conversations so that we as a society are more morally and financially focused on supporting those marginalized communities. The ones that aren't spoken about, but hold the answers to our most pressing issues.

While death is sad and I wish it upon no one, how can we shift the narrative and power dynamics so that the marginalized groups are the ones we are trying to support and save the most.

Condolences to all those that lost loved ones. We as a society need to do better.

Be sure to join the first Public Health Happy Hour in the last few months on June 28!

Check out the new The Public Health Millennial website 🥳 (may be a bit glitchy...I'm working on it lol. Let me know what you think!)

Interesting reads 📚:

Books

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago by Eric Klinenberg
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, PhD
Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on Health in America by Linda Villarosa

Interesting Audio/Video 🎧:

155: Full Circle in Public Health: Supporting The Passing of Seizure Smart School Act in Illinois with Ayesha Akhtar, MPH on Public Health Careers
156: Affecting Change For Migrant Populations with Kim M. Nolte, MPH, MCHES on Public Health Careers
11 Things Most People Get Wrong About Money on The Financial Diet
Impact of Extreme Health on Public Health by Society of Toxicology
New AMA President, says "we have a health care system in crisis" on CBS Bay Area

Events & Happenings 👀:

June Public Health Happy Hour (June 28)
Young Black Pharma presents: Health Equity 101 (June 26)
Justice in Public Health: White to White: Dismantling White Supremacy from Within (June 27) - University of Minnesota School of Public Health

Career Opportunities 🤓:

CDC Research Fellowship on the Prevention of Multiple Forms of Violence

Jobs

Associate Program Officer, Global Engagement, Global Growth & Opportunity - $82k-$153k - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle, WA)
Healthcare Operations Strategy and Policy Analyst - $73k-$166k - Booz Allen Hamilton (Washington DC)
Program Assistant - $58k-65k - Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (Remote)
Communications Assistant - $26-$38/hr - Public Health Institute (California) [Remote]
Health Equity Advisor - $85k-$157k - FHI 360 (Remote)
Clinical Program Coordinator - $17-$32/hr - The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
Senior Cannabis Policy Associate - $67k-$77k - Advocates for Human Potential, Inc (Remote)

Internships

Complex Care Intern - $35/hr - Lyra Health (Remote)
Policy Intern - $17-$19/hr - Connect for Health Colorado (Denver, CO) [Remote]
Health Consultant Intern - $49k-$102k - Booz Allen Hamilton (Bethesda, MD)
Advocacy Intern - $16-$19/hr - Public Health Institute (California) [Remote]
Research Department Intern - $20-28/hr - Public Health Institute (San Francisco, CA) [Remote]
National Policy Research Intern - $23/hr - American Heart Association (Dallas, TX)
Fall Public Policy Intern (Grad Student) - Primary Care Development Corporation (New York, NY) [Remote]

BTS 💓:

Hey you all - some of you might know that I had a discord community that I discontinued. Through the interest I am seeing, I will be creating a paid community in the near future. A space to support you in your journey, have accountability, network, and help you be more confident in navigating your path. More to come soon. Still working on lots of backend stuff while doing podcast, creating content, etc. It'll be worth the wait, let me know if there are specific things you would want to see in a community environment.