| | | While the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated our lives over the last two years, it’s overshadowed the spread of quieter, perhaps just as sinister, diseases spreading throughout society. This Daily Dose explores four pandemics that desperately need vaccines, from those brewing in the medical industry and education system to societal concerns such as mass shootings and addiction. And while that may all seem a bit discouraging, we also explore creative solutions — because we can defeat these pandemics too. | | |
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| beyond covid: the health care pandemic | | | 1 - Medical Deserts Small hospitals were already on life support before COVID-19 hit. Now more than 40% of America’s rural hospitals risk closure, according to advocacy group Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. That continues a dangerous trend that’s seen 181 hospitals close since 2005, leaving many Americans — including women in labor — stranded hours from quality treatment. States that didn’t accept Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act were particularly hard-hit. While $398 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan may have kept some hospitals afloat through coronavirus spikes and staff shortages, more must be done to protect health care access for 46 million rural Americans. |
| 2 - Mental Health Toll Two years into the new normal of pandemic life, anxiety and depression have become chronic conditions for many. Children are in their third year of disrupted schooling, and while the virus itself may affect them less, the stress and social upheaval are likely to have long-lasting effects. Young adults living alone have reported large spikes in depression. Front-line health care workers are facing psychological effects akin to post-traumatic stress disorder. And the mental health professionals treating them all are themselves coping with burnout. |
| 3 - Race-Based Outcomes Even those who shell out for special treatment may still find themselves burned, particularly if they aren’t white. That’s what OZY CEO and co-founder Carlos Watson saw when his family thought they were getting his aging mother the best care by enrolling her in a concierge program. He was shocked when she was suddenly diagnosed with late-stage kidney cancer. “As I later learned, a lot of the symptoms my mom had, if somebody was taking her seriously, were easily observable,” Watson shared on a special “Real Talk, Real Change” episode of The Carlos Watson Show exploring health disparities. His experiences match studies showing how minorities, and Black women in particular, receive worse treatment than many white patients — regardless of education or income. If multimillionaire tennis star Serena Williams can almost die after childbirth because her doctors won’t listen to her, who is safe? |
| 4 - Accelerated Addiction The U.S. saw over 100,000 overdose deaths from April 2020 to April 2021 — a 28.5% increase from the prior year’s record high and more than double the number from 2015. Two deadly new drugs, often combined with fentanyl, have been identified as contributing to the surge in overdoses. Experts say the pandemic has led to a “perfect storm” of conditions for overdoses, with isolation, depression and unemployment driving up substance abuse and COVID-19 limiting access to addiction treatment and medical care. The American Medical Association has described 2022 as “a critical year” to tackle the country’s drug overdose epidemic. |
| 5 - Getting Healthy America could decentralize power from large hospital systems to smaller-scale care, particularly in marginalized communities. One such program, Brooklyn-based Cityblock, raised $214 million in funding in 2020 — showing the promise of localized ambulatory care centers, a model that McKinsey predicts will be a $36 billion market by 2023. America could also revamp its immigration system, particularly by making exceptions for physicians from India, who sit on a decades-long waitlist (one scholar estimated the queue for advanced degree holders at 151 years). Value-based models, otherwise known as “pay if you’re cured,” could incentivize better care and reduce the financial burden: Studies showed hospitals with such programs were better equipped financially to combat COVID-19. And maybe robodoctors would be more willing to listen to Black women than white humans. Read More on OZY | | |
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| | | pandemic of violence | | | 1 - Shot to the Heart Reports of gun violence seemed to experience a lull once COVID-19 lockdowns went into effect. The feeling of quiet may simply have been a case of out of sight, out of mind. In fact, mass shootings in the United States notably increased during the pandemic. In 2021 as a whole, the United States saw 693 mass shootings, in which four or more victims were shot, according to the Gun Violence Archive, up 66% from the 417 mass shootings recorded in 2019. And that’s not even including the larger story on gun deaths: a record 45,222 Americans died from gunshot wounds in 2020 according to the Pew Research Center, with many of them coming from firearm suicides. Some argue those should contribute to any accounting for gun violence in America, although others disagree. |
| 2 - Trapped at Home Stay-at-home orders left many stuck with their abusers. While domestic violence organizations prepared for a surge by beefing up their phone lines, many experienced the opposite — some saw more than a 50 percent drop in calls. Unfortunately, experts believe it wasn’t because the need diminished: Instead, victims simply couldn’t reach out for help safely. That troubling trend persisted outside the U.S., including global increases in teen pregnancies (Uganda, for example, saw thousands more unwanted cases) and child marriages, with up to 2.5 million more at risk according to one nonprofit.
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| 3 - And Abroad The share of child victims of human trafficking has tripled in the past 15 years, and experts say the pandemic-induced global recession likely exposed many more to further risk. That’s because those “economically disaffected” by the pandemic, as the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime warned, are more likely to be exploited by criminals. Previous outbreaks, such as Ebola, were proven to increase the number of children vulnerable to trafficking, particularly among those who become orphaned during deadly outbreaks. It didn’t help that in the U.S. 2020 also witnessed the rise of the QAnon conspiracy, which tried to attach itself to legitimate anti-human-trafficking efforts — creating the odd situation where well-meaning people feared speaking out against human trafficking because it could lump them in with radical conspiracists. Read More on OZY |
| 4 - Can You Vaccinate Against Violence? U.S. President Joe Biden has called for a federal assault weapons ban and other gun control measures, but the world has seen this script before. Meanwhile, change won’t happen in cities or counties because most states have “preemption” laws that severely restrict or don’t allow local leaders or voters to pass more restrictive gun laws. Ending those preemptions, plus following the leads of countries like Australia and New Zealand by instituting gun buybacks and other reduction programs, could make a dent but would be near impossible given the political power of conservative American gun owners. On child marriage and sex trafficking, many are providing examples worth modeling. In Pakistan, Hadiqa Bashir, 18, has been knocking door to door, breaking up as many as 15 child marriage arrangements while preparing for a legal career. In India, Hasina Kharbhih has used repatriation and compensation to rescue 72,000 women and children from trafficking across the region. |
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| Catch Controversial Comedian Carlos Mencia Talk Cancel Culture & the Way Forward |
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| pandemic of selfishness | 1 - Rich Get Richer A stock market that kept on chugging through rising unemployment and disrupted trade routes led to billionaires gaining $2.1 trillion since mid-March 2020 — even as many of them received bailouts for their businesses, exacerbating a perception of “socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest” at the highest levels of the global economy. That perception of tone-deafness has spurred anger, such as during 2021’s “billionaire space race,” leading people to question why they wouldn’t utilize their wealth to progress more terrestrial endeavors. Perhaps it’s time, as actor Sean Penn lays out in an episode of The Carlos Watson Show, for a true rethink of how Big Tech is shaping our lives. Watch Now |
| 2 - Self-Centered Countries Nationalism is selfishness on the state level, with an emphasis on inward-looking policies without regard to how others are affected — and countries were more tempted than ever to go at it alone, as borders closed or were significantly restricted. As of February 2022, some 78 percent of the 4.83 billion people vaccinated against COVID-19 are in high- and upper-middle-income countries, with affluent governments spending a lot more money on manufacturing and delivering the shots to their own people than on spreading them equitably to poorer nations. With needs already too often unmet and ignored, migrants suffered even more: The United States, for example, ground asylum claims to a halt in 2020 and ramped up border wall efforts. With Biden in office, there has been a trickle of claims getting through, while a new surge of migrants is making the trek, with many incorrectly assuming the border would be open with Biden in office. | | |
| 3 - Solving Selfishness People fight selfishness when they have shared goals, beliefs and backgrounds. So any solution must come from the recapturing of a shared identity. Societies can start by adopting a new idea of citizenship, one that incentivizes the wealthy to willingly spread their gains more equally across society — perhaps through rewarding them with titles and honor, as the ancient Athenians did. While religion can be divisive, it also provides a communal sense that transcends language or ethnicity: Could interfaith solidarity, intentional communities and a DIY spirituality keep the world from adopting Adolf Hitler as its guiding light? Biden has promised to reassert America’s moral authority globally while fighting authoritarianism, although the U.S. will first have to overcome its own recent authoritarian turn and human rights record. |
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| | | pandemic of failing education | | | 1 - The Lost Years One Virginia superintendent described making decisions about education during the pandemic as like “playing a game of 3D chess while standing on one leg in the middle of a hurricane.” In other words: Education is in disarray. Children are falling behind, teachers are stressed and sick, and the non-Ivy League universities are seeing flagging attendance while debts rack up. That will likely lead to increased inequality between the haves and the have-nots in academia, even as the average college diploma is getting less and less valuable while also getting pricier. Read More on OZY |
| 2 - The Widening Gap Students of color already faced tremendous headwinds compared to their white counterparts, from poorer schools to unequal resources. The pandemic only exacerbated those inequalities. During the prior academic year, minority scholars were about three to five months behind where experts would expect them to be in math (white students were one to three months behind). Reading levels were a bit better, with students “just” a month and a half behind historical averages. Still, the report was just one in a flood of mounting evidence suggesting that America is leaving its most at-risk students behind in the classroom, which could negatively impact their chances at finding jobs, building wealth and staying healthy down the line.
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| 3 - Elevating Education Bilingual platforms like Encantos can expand teaching for the youngest, helping minority students keep pace early. Taking heed from educators like Stacy Johnson, who teaches teachers how to avoid racism in the classroom, would also help, as would giving students more say over their curriculum. Artificial intelligence tutors, particularly at reduced or no cost, could help reduce America’s achievement gap and teacher shortages. Gamification is being used by social media and entertainment companies to dominate children’s time, so why not make it educational too — as Poland did, launching a Minecraft server packed with quizzes that give in-game rewards to the best performers. And micro-schools, which became popular with pod families during the pandemic, could help ease overflowing classrooms in time. Another change that should stay? Free food for kids, a practice that extended the lunchroom to the home during the pandemic and could fight child hunger long term too. |
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| COMMUNITY CORNER What other social crisis warrant our attention? Share your thoughts with us at [email protected] |
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| ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on “the New and the Next.” OZY creates space for fresh perspectives and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. Welcome to the New + the Next! |
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