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NEWS | EASTERN HORIZON 59
How Did Majority
Buddhist Countries
Achieve COVID Success?
By Rod Meade Sperry| June 10, 2020
restrictions. But Jameson thinks that something
else is going on. “It’s not just authoritarian rule,”
she said. “[The people in these regions] know
when they’re asked to obey rules very strictly
that they’re doing it for the benefit of each other,
not just for themselves. So it’s that commitment
to the other that has helped a lot in reducing the
numbers.” There are also many religious practices
in Southeast Asian Buddhism that are meant to
prevent illness, which Jameson thinks “give people
some sense of doing something. Some help, some
Vietnam, a country of 97 million people, and hope.” In addition, social distancing measures
Cambodia, at 16.25 million, have reported zero are embedded in the culture itself, the New York
COVID-19 fatalities. Thailand, with a population Times pointed out last week. In Thai culture,
of 70 million people, has had only 58 deaths. for example, there is a habit of greeting others
Myanmar, at 53 million, only six. What’s going with one’s palms together, as if in prayer, rather
on? This week the Australian Broadcasting than a handshake or an embrace. There is also
Corporation (ABC) asked if Buddhism has speculation that some kind of genetic component
something to do with it. In an interview for the has proven advantageous to the immune systems
ABC’s Religion and Ethics Report, Jill Jameson, of people in the Mekong River region.
who serves on the executive committee
of the International Network of Engaged At this point, it’s hard to say if these countries are
Buddhists, said that Buddhism’s emphasis on completely in the clear—even if it may be true that
interconnectedness—and the popular belief in Buddhist culture is working for, and not against,
some of its apotropaic rituals—may have helped the fight against the pandemic. “With the disease
stem the spread. There are other factors: Thailand still looming, we have to keep our guard up,” Dr.
and Vietnam have mostly agrarian economies, Taweesin Visanuyothin, COVID-19 spokesman
meaning more time is spent outdoors, and for Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health, told
the Times. EH
authoritarian leadership, which may account
for the relatively easy enforcement of COVID
