Can a mere song be used to call for Action and Inspire a Change?
Singer Elvis Costello once pose a question, “Can a mere song change a people's minds?” he asked, and “I doubt that it is so. But a song can infiltrate your heart and the heart may change your mind.”
With the annual Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) Commission on Monday, with the them being ‘A Decade for Action’, music has been identified as the driver of change.
The power of music to inspire change cannot be underestimated in the field of health and well-being.
Researchers too have has explored music, health, and wellbeing across a range of contexts. Using the categories of music therapy, music education, music medicine and music and everyday life, to highlight the beneficial effects of music across all areas of health and social care.
At the ongoing AHAIC Conference, leaders realized that there is no time to wait in order to make change. By taking one small action, you can be a part of something much bigger.
Change will come, but we have to make it. And that was the ‘theme’ song played at the opening ceremony, “It’s a Decade for Action.”
The State of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa report revealed Africa's health systems are poorly attuned to meet the healthcare needs of the poor, the disabled and other vulnerable groups putting the continent's quest of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) further out of reach.
The report further states that achieving UHC will continue to be a challenge in Africa until customized, quality, and affordable essential health services are made available.
Let us hope that the leaders will stay true to their call in the recommendation report and take actions to ensure steady progress towards UHC, including reorienting health systems and health system priorities to respond to population health needs.
It is a decade for action; it’s a commitment to action. ‘Avulekile’
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