Over the past few years, the importance of cough etiquette and hand hygiene has become apparent, as society has come under threat of H1N1, Enterovirus, SARS and other infectious diseases. The gifted composer, Huang Yun-ling has produced, for Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC), a special song about infectious disease control targeted at youngsters.The performing artist Huang Jia-qian and her husband Xia Ke-li performed the lead vocals and taught the child star “Pi-dan” and 30 other children to cultivate good handwashing habits, including washing hands thoroughly with soap, as they commemorated Global Handwashing Day.
Taiwan CDC stressed that such “self-care” habits should be cultivated from a young age and that music is a great way to deliver this important message.Faced with the H1N1 epidemic, Taiwan CDC enlisted the help of the composer Huang Yun-ling to come up with a song written specifically for children.Despite her busy schedule, Ms. Huang did not shirk her duty when preparing for this important mission.Ms. Huang, along with her apprentices from PICKS, searched out important information on self-care and disease prevention.Together they composed the song for all the children in the nation.To make sure it was perfect, they even tested the song on children of friends and relatives.
At the press conference, the performing artist Huang Jia-qian—now eight months pregnant—stood alongside her husband, Xia Ke-li, and the child star Pi-dan to celebrate the release of this important song.At the press conference, Ms. Huang Jia-qian revealed that Ms. Huang Yun-ling has long been her hero. She also said that although she does not know the gender of her soon-to-be-born baby, she hopes that he or she will be as healthy and smart as “little Pi-dan”.Both she and her husband will be sure to sing the children’s infection control song to their child to give it a good head start and plant the seed of disease prevention and control early.With the immunization of the H1N1 vaccine set to begin soon, Ms. Huang also called on all other expecting mothers to heed closely the advice of their physicians and get inoculated with the vaccine in order to avoid infection and provide both mother and baby with an added layer of protection.
Ms. Huang and Pi-dan both remind everyone of the importance—especially now—of covering their mouths with a handkerchief or tissue when coughing or sneezing to prevent the aerial transmission of potentially infectious particles.If a handkerchief or tissue is not available, one’s own sleeve can be used.These techniques can help protect everyone.
The children’s infection control song can be downloaded from the Taiwan CDC website:http://www.cdc.gov.tw/.