guest post by Tiffany Liu
On March 27 2020, the United Nations announced a GLOBAL CALL TO CREATIVES: An Open Brief from the United Nations. In the brief, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres stated “we are in an unprecedented situation and the normal rules no longer apply. We cannot resort to the usual tools in such unusual times. The creativity of the response must match the unique nature of the crisis – and the magnitude of the response must match its scale.”
Inspired by the UN’s call, Gen Z Group, a Singapore-based educational media company, decided to adapt the Handbook of COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment, jointly published by Jack Ma Foundation and The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, into a five-episode graphic novel, titled “One World, One Fight”. We hope to raise awareness for COVID-19 prevention and treatment practices adopted by Chinese healthcare workers as case studies for the global community, to avoid any overlapping efforts, and to bridge the gap between professionals and public by using graphic novel as a visual medium in communicating technical terms.
The illustrator, Revolver, is a Chinese artist known for creating thriller/suspense graphic novels. He has over three million followers on Chinese social media. This is his first attempt to create a medical graphic novel and the Gen Z Group team works very closely with the illustrator to provide him with research and reference materials.
This graphic novel has 5 volumes and we are now at the third. Each volume covers one to two topics, ranging from hospital staff management, personal protection protocols, diagnosis and clinical classifications, psychological intervention, nursing, discharge standards, and many more. The graphic novel has been translated into 15 languages (All versions can be found on genzgroup.org/blog) by global volunteers. Our volunteers come from Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan, Turkey, Korea, Britain, U.S., Tanzania, and Lebanon.
We are all in this together, and we can’t beat this virus unless we actively share our resources and know-hows. Although each nation’s prevention and treatment measures cannot be copied and pasted, there must be something to learn from each other. Although the culture of people in each country is different, there are certainly similar experiences we can empathize with. We have to be united, not divided, to win this battle.
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