Culture & Lifestyle
Sing a song today to keep Covid-19 at bay
In times of crisis, public health practitioners believe that songs are a great medium to keep the masses informed—and safe.Ankit Khadgi
When Pashupati Sharma saw fear rising among Nepali people as coronavirus spread across the world, he felt the need to inform the masses about the preventive measures one can undertake to protect themselves from being infected.
That is why, two weeks ago, he released ‘Corona Virus’, a lok dohori song on YouTube, which has been viewed over 600,000 times.
“Since I am an artist, it’s my responsibility to make people aware during times of crisis. My intention of creating the song was to make people aware in such a way that they can understand the message without difficulty,” says Sharma, a well-known lok dohori artist. The song talks about how we can combat coronavirus by washing our hands, staying away from the crowd and using masks—all important preventive measures to keep the virus at bay.
This is not the first time songs have been used as a medium to spread awareness among people about health and sanitation. According to public health practitioners, such catchy, informative songs are effective tools for spreading awareness and can be instrumental in influencing people’s habits.
“Songs can be a great motivation for people. They can affect people psychologically, and make them change their ways,” says Sandhya Chaulagain, hygiene officer at WaterAid Nepal. According to Chaulagain, since songs appeal to the larger mass, irrespective of whether they are literate or not, they are more effective than brochures or posters. “Since songs allow people to listen, even watch videos in some cases, it makes the process interactive and often the message stays on the mind of the viewer. It is more effective than skim reading a brochure or a public service announcement in a newspaper,” says Chaulagain.
Similarly, following Sharma’s lead, another singer Almoda Rana Upreti released an upbeat song, titled ‘Corona Virus Prevention,’ with an animated video last week. The video demonstrates the correct method of washing one’s hands.
Chaulagain says that during a time of crisis, songs make for effective tools for disseminating messages. “Even if they read the information about preventive measures in a paper, they won’t be able to share it instantly. But songs have the ability to reach more houses and people can easily refer it to their friends and family, who can later tune into or even watch the video of the song on various platforms,” says Chaulagain.
The fusion of information with entertainment has been used as a tool to spread awareness about health and sanitation in many development projects all over the world. There have been research works that claimed that Meena, the famous cartoon character, was an important tool in teaching people handwashing and sanitation in many Asian communities. A week or so ago, Vietnam’s health ministry released a song as a creative approach to notify its citizens about the importance of handwashing. The video earned millions of views and world-wide appreciation on social media.
Along with being an engaging medium for educating people, the music can also provide mental relief to those trying to process important information, says Bina Shrestha, senior psychosocial counsellor at TPO Nepal. “During a time of crisis, people cannot comprehend the news well nor can they read the paper in ease, as they are stressed. If the message can come across through songs it won’t only act as a catalyst to deliver important information to them, but will also act as a stress reliever,” says Shrestha. And this is exactly the reason why Shrestha says songs are instrumental in teaching people to adopt a healthy lifestyle. “When songs are related to the daily part of people’s lives, they can easily relate. So, they are more receptive to the message psychologically,” says Shrestha.
Both Shrestha and Chaulagain believe authorities should use such a medium to inform people about how one can prevent coronavirus. “Since most Nepalis are on high alert, authorities should use songs as a medium to spread the message,” says Chaulagain. “Not only will it inform, but it will provide relief.”