00:00 I,
00:01 uh,
00:01 I,
00:01 I remember when our arts and health program,
00:04 uh,
00:04 was first started,
00:05 and there were some
00:06 legitimate questions.
00:07 Why is WHO
00:09 going into this area more formally?
00:11 And one colleague actually said,
00:13 but the arts are merely recreational.
00:16 And I said,
00:17 well,
00:18 listen to that word,
00:19 recreation.
00:21 It's about healing.
00:22 And,
00:23 and I think that's
00:24 one of the messages I'd like to give in the 8 minutes that I have
00:28 is
00:29 that
00:30 Yes,
00:31 this is about effective
00:33 uh messaging on development and health topics to populations,
00:37 um,
00:38 but
00:38 it's also about
00:40 the
00:40 intrinsic healing power of
00:43 the deep aesthetic engagement as well,
00:46 uh,
00:46 regardless of the message that it's carrying.
00:48 And I think that's,
00:49 that's an important aspect to,
00:51 to what we're talking about here.
00:53 Um,
00:54 I also want to point out just upfront that uh the
00:58 work that we do at WHO
01:01 1/3 of it is really dealing with the global media.
01:04 Um,
01:05 the other 2/3 of it
01:08 are
01:09 looking at the evidence base for the health benefits of the arts,
01:13 uh,
01:14 promoting
01:15 Uh,
01:16 the,
01:17 uh,
01:17 use of the arts as a community-based,
01:21 uh,
01:22 health intervention,
01:23 uh,
01:23 at the community level.
01:25 And,
01:25 and that can be everything from psychosocial support to refugees,
01:29 to post-conflict,
01:31 Situations in northern Iraq,
01:33 uh,
01:34 to,
01:35 um,
01:36 uh,
01:37 COVID response of dealing with
01:41 feelings of mass grief in Mexico through letter writing.
01:44 Uh,
01:44 there,
01:44 there are many,
01:45 many different programs that we do.
01:47 But
01:48 one of the reasons why we got into
01:50 a more formal engagement with the global media,
01:53 it's,
01:54 it's really quite simple.
01:55 They reach a lot of people,
01:57 uh,
01:58 that at the end of the day,
01:59 when we're talking about public health,
02:01 when we're talking about global health,
02:04 if,
02:05 if we are limited in our scope,
02:07 then we're not actually doing our job.
02:09 We need to reach the most number of people,
02:12 and,
02:13 um,
02:14 media in all of its forms,
02:16 uh,
02:16 does exactly that.
02:17 So I think we have to engage them.
02:18 There are some pitfalls,
02:19 of course,
02:21 if you have
02:22 an unbalanced approach.
02:25 I think there's a danger of a
02:27 negative perception that we are elitist,
02:30 that we're wandering away from our core mission.
02:32 Because at the end of the day,
02:33 what WHO and the UN and the World Bank
02:36 are really all about,
02:38 is serving the underserved.
02:40 Uh,
02:40 and
02:41 that's an important aspect.
02:42 Let's take,
02:43 um,
02:44 uh,
02:45 Ms.
02:45 Stone's,
02:46 uh,
02:46 collaboration with WHO.
02:49 She mentioned briefly that she was a juror on our Health for all film festival.
02:54 Well,
02:55 It was very generous of her to do that,
02:57 but the benefits of that
03:00 were were multiple.
03:01 Not only did she bring
03:03 her expertise in storytelling to help
03:06 judge this
03:07 contest,
03:08 uh,
03:08 to see
03:09 which of these films were
03:11 the most effective,
03:12 the most affecting,
03:14 uh,
03:14 as well.
03:15 Um,
03:16 and of course lent her brand,
03:18 as she described it,
03:19 uh,
03:20 to promote the festival itself.
03:22 But the festival was really about
03:26 independent
03:27 local grassroots voices from around the world
03:30 dealing with their local uh health issues.
03:34 And,
03:34 and,
03:35 and that's the balance that we want to get at,
03:37 that it's,
03:38 it's not just celebrity for its own sake.
03:40 Or his social marketing.
03:42 But,
03:42 um,
03:43 to give,
03:44 to,
03:44 to,
03:45 to,
03:45 to pass the mic,
03:46 uh,
03:46 as,
03:47 uh,
03:47 our,
03:47 our colleague in the one program just said,
03:50 to,
03:50 to use the celebrity to,
03:52 to bring the platform
03:54 to the people who
03:55 have not been heard,
03:57 who,
03:57 who,
03:57 who need to be heard.
03:59 Um,
04:00 Perhaps,
04:02 arguably the most
04:05 tremendous success that we've had in this space,
04:08 uh,
04:08 was at the beginning of the pandemic,
04:10 when we had the Together at Home concert with Lady Gaga,
04:13 which she was kind enough to curate for us.
04:16 That
04:17 event,
04:18 the primary purpose of it was at a key point,
04:21 at an early point in the pandemic,
04:23 to get across the health messaging of
04:26 Hand sanitation,
04:28 safe distancing,
04:29 staying at home,
04:30 and honoring the healthcare worker.
04:32 But what was interesting about that event is that
04:36 it was more than just health messaging.
04:39 By bringing together artists from all aspects of the arts,
04:43 film,
04:44 television,
04:44 music,
04:45 uh,
04:46 and,
04:47 and,
04:47 and,
04:48 and,
04:48 and bringing them together in,
04:50 in an authentic way,
04:52 uh,
04:53 It,
04:53 it actually did
04:55 build a sense of community in a fractured world.
04:59 Uh,
04:59 it,
04:59 it did
05:01 provide comfort.
05:02 It did
05:04 provide,
05:05 um,
05:06 uh,
05:06 an opportunity for people to,
05:08 to think about
05:09 how they themselves in lockdown could express themselves.
05:12 And it was more than just the messaging.
05:14 It,
05:15 there,
05:15 there was this
05:16 other element to it.
05:18 The WHO definition of mental health,
05:20 frankly,
05:21 is
05:22 not just the absence of
05:25 mental health,
05:26 uh,
05:26 mental illness symptoms or conditions,
05:29 but
05:31 Asking yourself the question,
05:33 can I cope with the everyday stresses of life?
05:36 Can I maximize my abilities?
05:39 Can I,
05:40 uh,
05:42 be productive.
05:43 Can I contribute to a community?
05:45 And if the answer to all these questions is yes,
05:47 you have mental health regardless of what
05:51 diagnosable condition you may or may not have.
05:54 And,
05:54 and,
05:54 and when you think about that definition,
05:57 then it becomes intuitively obvious how involvement in all of the arts,
06:01 uh,
06:02 can,
06:03 can be
06:04 a,
06:04 a,
06:04 a benefit.
06:06 Um,
06:07 and,
06:07 and arguably that Lady Gaga concert that we did,
06:11 um,
06:11 was
06:13 historic.
06:14 Uh,
06:14 we broke several Guinness Book of World Records in terms of
06:17 the most number of people reached in an online event,
06:20 uh,
06:20 the most money raised for our solidarity fund,
06:23 uh,
06:23 to,
06:24 to support countries,
06:25 particularly underserved countries.
06:27 Uh,
06:28 and it,
06:29 it,
06:29 it,
06:29 it was,
06:31 it,
06:31 it,
06:31 it was amazing.
06:33 So,
06:33 as part of our healing arts uh efforts,
06:36 we have
06:38 also engaged Hollywood and media companies in other ways.
06:42 Uh,
06:42 when the NBC show New Amsterdam,
06:44 for instance,
06:45 came back after their,
06:47 uh,
06:47 pandemic hiatus,
06:49 they,
06:50 uh,
06:50 their first show,
06:51 they had a,
06:52 um,
06:52 10 to 15 minute montage of
06:55 what,
06:56 uh,
06:56 of how healthcare workers on the front line dealt with,
06:59 uh,
06:59 the pandemic.
07:01 And I,
07:02 I actually found that clip on YouTube and posted it on the WHO internet,
07:05 and it went to
07:07 um
07:08 uh all of our offices around the world,
07:10 and we got back this flood of appreciation of,
07:13 oh my God,
07:14 we've been recognized.
07:16 And I sent a note of appreciation to the producers.
07:20 They invited me into the writer's room,
07:22 and we began to have this dialogue about
07:25 um
07:26 How health shows on television could be about more
07:29 than just the mystery disease of the week.
07:31 They can actually get to the root causes,
07:34 uh,
07:34 economic,
07:35 social,
07:36 uh,
07:36 uh,
07:37 the other determinants of,
07:38 of ill health in a community,
07:40 and also what it means to be healthy.
07:42 It's not just the absence of disease,
07:44 it's,
07:45 it's thriving,
07:46 it's finding those moments of joy.
07:48 And it was a,
07:48 it was a beautiful dialogue that resulted in
07:51 a couple of events
07:53 with the cast,
07:54 with the producers,
07:55 with
07:56 WHO technical officers to have an honest conversation and to reach more people.
08:01 Um,
08:02 I think,
08:03 uh,
08:04 in,
08:04 in terms of our engagement,
08:06 uh,
08:06 we've also worked with Netflix,
08:07 with HBO Max.
08:09 I myself have brought storytelling on global
08:12 health issues to the Warner Brothers studios,
08:15 uh,
08:15 to
08:16 media groups around the world,
08:18 and beyond Hollywood,
08:19 uh,
08:19 working with opera companies,
08:21 dance companies,
08:22 uh,
08:23 uh,
08:23 etc.
08:25 But I think,
08:26 uh,
08:26 perhaps
08:27 the,
08:27 the most
08:28 engaging
08:30 way we've worked with celebrities,
08:32 one example comes to mind is our engagement with Renee Fleming,
08:36 the,
08:36 um,
08:37 the,
08:38 the opera soprano.
08:40 She was more than just a social marketer of issues.
08:45 She actually is an advocate of
08:48 the
08:49 The healing power,
08:51 the socially binding power of singing together,
08:53 of music.
08:54 And,
08:55 and
08:56 to her credit,
08:57 it's,
08:57 it's,
08:58 it's been more than just
08:59 her representing,
09:01 um,
09:02 uh
09:04 This,
09:04 this aspect.
09:05 It's been using uh
09:07 her network to bring the NEA,
09:10 to bring the NIH,
09:12 to bring,
09:13 um,
09:13 the Kennedy Center,
09:14 uh,
09:15 and other groups together and formed this group called the Sound Health,
09:18 uh,
09:18 that,
09:19 that actually looks at the science of why music
09:22 has this beneficial effect,
09:24 and to bring it to,
09:26 um,
09:27 uh,
09:27 the youth who are suffering this pandemic of loneliness at the moment.
09:31 And in fact,
09:31 that's probably where I'd like to end my comments is
09:35 with a
09:36 quote from Carl Jung,
09:37 the Swiss psychologist,
09:39 who once said,
09:40 Loneliness
09:42 is not the absence of people.
09:45 Loneliness is the inability
09:47 to express what matters most.
09:49 And,
09:50 and that's what
09:51 entertainment does.
09:52 That's what the arts do.
09:54 It's,
09:54 it's
09:56 And,
09:56 and that expression can be
09:59 words,
09:59 it can be
10:01 a movement through space,
10:02 it could be a sound,
10:03 it could be an image.
10:05 And in the case of film and television,
10:06 it can be all of those things.
10:08 But it,
10:09 it's,
10:09 it's more than just the messaging.
10:11 It's that
10:13 moment of deep aesthetic,
10:15 shared attention.
10:16 Where
10:17 our heartbeats begin to synchronize,
10:19 we begin to imagine ourselves into the shoes of another person,
10:23 to gain perspective,
10:24 and maybe break out
10:26 of,
10:27 uh,
10:27 the,
10:28 the,
10:28 the established
10:30 opinions and behaviors that we had
10:33 gotten used to,
10:34 and,
10:34 and begin to see things in a different way.
10:37 So,
10:37 it's more than just
10:38 manipulating a population to do something that we think is better for them.
10:43 It,
10:43 it's about
10:45 People
10:47 individually harnessing their own creativity and becoming
10:51 Able to curate their own lives.
10:54 Thank you.
10:55 That was beautifully said,
10:57 Chris,
10:58 uh,
10:58 really
10:59 kind of bringing together
11:01 what I think what we communally feel that we are not trying to impose other
11:08 Notions we are trying to bring a community together for that community to
11:12 inspire and communicate with,
11:14 with each other.
11:15 I think
11:16 the,
11:16 you know,
11:17 from the entertainment to the social media,
11:19 uh,
11:19 bringing that community to work towards common objectives of,
11:24 uh,
11:24 mental health for sure,
11:25 that's a very,
11:26 very fundamental.
11:27 We all became
11:28 keenly aware of these issues
11:31 during the lockdowns,
11:32 uh,
11:33 perhaps
11:33 uniquely in history,
11:36 um.
11:38 We all felt it.
11:39 We all felt it,
11:40 and all the people
11:42 working with us and
11:44 our families,
11:45 I know
11:46 it's been a really,
11:47 a really,
11:47 really,
11:48 uh,
11:48 important experience
11:50 in many,
11:50 many ways.
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