On Tuesday, Oct. 5 Smith College hosted a talk titled “The Future of Public Health in the United States” in the Julia Child ‘34 Campus Center featuring Admiral Rachel Levine, an accomplished pediatrician and current faculty member at Penn State. Levine discussed the importance of health equity in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the politicization of public health.
Levine served as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2017 to 2021 and as Assistant Secretary for Health for the Biden administration. In discussing her past work, she addressed vaccinations, COVID-19, STDs, LGBTQ+ health, climate change and other topics. Levine said she believes that a major misconception about public health is that it’s inherently political, which was exacerbated during the pandemic.
“Politics started to get very heated… because people got frustrated (with the new lifestyle)” of isolation during quarantine, she said. “I have never, ever, considered myself a political figure.”
Political tensions during the pandemic, she said, have led to more “deliberate misinformation” on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, which has caused a decline in childhood vaccination rates. Levine believes there will be a spike in preventable but dangerous illnesses in children.
“COVID-19 unmasked existing health inequities,” Levine said. “Some people today say that health equity is ‘woke’… (but) we have not truly made progress unless we’ve all made progress.”
As the first openly transgender four-star officer in U.S. history, Levine said she personally understands the importance of healthcare that addresses what individuals and communities really need. Besides discussing the importance of suicide prevention hotlines, gender-affirming care and protections against health discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people, Levine noted that LGBTQ+ youth have much lower rates of depression and suicide if they have at least one supportive adult in their life.
Levine stressed that everyone has the power to be that supportive person in someone else’s life. Community was a key theme in her talk. She discussed how community creates change and diversity brings a wide range of perspectives, opinions and experiences that allow people to thrive and create meaningful change.
After her talk, Levine engaged in a Q&A with President Sarah Willie-LeBreton. In her responses, Levine discussed increased mental health and stress problems faced on college campuses, mentioning that she was drawn to adolescent medicine because of the intersection between physical, mental and behavioral health.
Levine said that it’s important to understand that mental health is not secondary to physical health. “It’s actually the other way around,” she said.
She added that having therapists and psychologists present on campus is the first step to addressing overall physical wellbeing. Levine used the metaphor of an eye of a hurricane.
“If you can find the eye, (you) find a way to center yourself.”
Levine explained how college campuses can offer activities for people to center themselves, such as dance, yoga, cooking, painting and much more to tailor to individual needs. We’re all responsible for public health; it’s at the intersection of housing, government, transportation, economic opportunities, the environment, nutrition and much more.
Levine circled back to the importance of community when talking to President Willie Le-Breton, declaring that we all have the power to improve the common good, especially through community and local advocacy. These, she argues, are the best ways to make change. “We won’t get progress from the top-down.”
Levine concluded by stating that young people at Smith have a responsibility, and the power, to shape the future.
“It’s that dedication to work for the common good… and to be prepared for that opportunity… that’s why you go to Smith,” she said.
