The Invisible Shield trailer breakdown: 3 major takeaways

The Invisible Shield is a docu-series that talks about Public Health as an invisible shield that silently protects the lives of millions through research, forecasts, and solutions to ongoing and upcoming diseases. The eye-opening documentary has four one-hour-long episodes that will premiere on Thursday, March 26, 2024, on PBS at 10 pm ET.

The trailer released by Bloomberg Philanthropies' official YouTube channel on February 7 talks about the role of Public Health in safeguarding the masses from deadly habits, diseases, and epidemics. It also shows how Public Health constantly regulates the health system for the better and achieves feats that would've been improbable without it.

---

3 Things that The Invisible Shield promises through its trailer

1) How under-rated Public Health really is

The Invisible Shield will give viewers every little information on the history of Public Health, its current state, and what is expected to happen to it in the future. It also explains why it's an 'invisible' shield or unknown to most.

A Public Health representative from The Invisible Shield (Image via Youtube/Bloomberg Philanthropies)

A Public Health representative can be seen saying in the trailer,

"Public Health saved your life today, but you didn't even know it. Public Health has almost always been invisible, then you have a pandemic, and in the pandemic that invisibility is gone, and it's not coming back."

This refers to how the onslaught of COVID-19 made the world aware of the workings of Public Health. It became visible in the form of numbers and the precautionary measures that were laid out by organizations like WHO after extensive research and experiments. Without such precautions, the masses would have found themselves losing against it.

---

2) Why Public Health is so important

The Invisible Shield also promises to explain to the viewers the importance of Public Health Systems in extensive detail. It teaches viewers how it has been playing the role of a protector for centuries, the feats it has achieved, and the healthcare it has changed for the better.

The Black Death costume (Image via Youtube/Bloomberg Philanthropies)

The Invisible Shield trailer sees Public Health supporters talking about how it has been helping humans since the time of the Black Death. Further explaining its importance, a gentleman says,

"There was a time when you went to work, it wasn't clear if you were going to come home from work."

This refers to the change Public Health has brought about. Another Public Health representative explained how two-thirds of children were likely to die in childhood two centuries ago, but childhood is the safest time of our life now, stressing how far Public Health has come.

The trailer also shows the side of Public Health that makes amendments to provide people with "cleaner water, breathable air, and healthy food." The trailer refers to these as "protections" the Public Health makes for all of us.

Talking about its achievements, a representative says,

"In the last century, we gained 30 years of life expectancy due to Public Health."

Another says,

"To me, extending our lives is the most impressive thing that we have ever done as a species."

---

3) Effects of neglect of Public Health

Because Public Health is The Invisible Shield, it isn't getting the recognition it deserves. The PBS trailer shows how it's high time to recognize this behind-the-scenes worker to make it more resourceful.

The growing Global Life Expectancy Index (Image via Youtube/Bloomberg Philanthropies)

A woman in the trailer states that nobody thinks about Public Health if everything works well. The effects of this are discussed by a gentleman who explains that there is an invisibility crisis in Public Health, and it impacts our ability to be appropriately resourced.

Another representative states how Public Health has been undervalued, underfunded, and misunderstood. They also state that undervaluing Public Health hurts our health. Explaining further, a supporter says,

"Public Health is like the foundation of your house, and let me tell you, ours is cracked."

The docu-series promises to explain to viewers the adverse effects of Public Health not getting deserving recognition. This is done by getting into factual data and confessions from Public Health workers.

---

New episodes of the four-episode-long The Invisible Shield will come out every Tuesday at 10 pm ET on PBS.