AB135. United in crisis: India’s COVID-19 message to the world

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic called for unified public health responses worldwide, particularly in large, diverse, and densely populated countries. India’s early response uniquely combined visual storytelling, symbolic gestures, and mass communication to influence public behavior and signal collective responsibility at scale. This abstract examines how these symbolic strategies framed risk, solidarity, and resilience during the first national lockdown in 2020 and how they contributed to public health communication beyond conventional text-based advisories.

Methods: This poster is based on a narrative illustration inspired by national government campaigns, grassroots initiatives, and media-driven symbolism during India’s 2020 lockdown. Key themes were derived from public health advisories, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) updates, televised addresses, and observed public actions such as the “Janata Curfew”, lighting diyas, displaying national colors, and honoring frontline workers. The visual elements were organized to depict the sequence of events, the emotional tone of India’s early pandemic messaging, and the interaction between state communication, community response, and media amplification.

Results: India’s symbolic health messaging appeared to trigger mass citizen participation, increase trust in public health guidance, and promote community solidarity across regions and socio-economic groups. Collective actions such as clapping for frontline workers, lighting lamps on balconies and using widely recognized national figures in health messages helped bridge scientific advice with emotion, identity and a sense of shared sacrifice in a high-density, multilingual population. At the same time, the experience highlighted persistent challenges related to misinformation, digital divides, stigma and unequal access to timely, accurate information, which sometimes diluted or distorted the intended messages.

Conclusions: India’s early pandemic response illustrates the global value of culturally resonant, emotionally engaging public health communication when combined with clear, consistent and evidence-based content. Visual symbols, unity campaigns and frontline narratives can function as powerful tools to influence protective behaviors, sustain public morale and reinforce trust in health institutions, but they must be accompanied by transparent risk communication strategies and efforts to reach marginalized and digitally excluded communities. These lessons may inform future crisis communication frameworks in other low and middle-income settings.

Keywords: Public health communication; symbolic messaging; coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic response (COVID-19 pandemic response); collective behavior & solidarity; culturally resonant risk communication