Sirleaf, Liverpool keeper, Lady Gaga’s mother now global health ambassadors

Sirleaf

The immediate past President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the current goalkeeper of Liverpool Football Club of England and the Brazilian football national team, Alisson Becker, are two of the four latest global health ambassadors just announced by the World Health Organization.

The four were chosen specifically from the fields of sports, politics and community mobilization to promote healthier lives, stronger health workforces and improved mental health globally.

The other two are Dr Natália Loewe Becker, medical doctor and health advocate from Brazil, and Cynthia Germanotta, President of Born This Way Foundation, which she co-founded with her daughter, the superstar singer, Lady Gaga.

While the Beckers were named WHO Goodwill Ambassadors for Health Promotion; Germanotta was named WHO Goodwill Ambassador for mental health; and Sirleaf, WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Health Workforce.

The announcements were made by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in his speech to open the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva.

“I welcome President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Cynthia Germanotta, Alisson Becker and Natália Loewe Becker as WHO’s new Goodwill Ambassadors and look forward to working with them over the coming years. Each of our new ambassadors are champions in their own right, from helping their communities rebuild and develop sustainably, to fighting for better mental health and wellbeing, to being role models for healthier living.”

Congrats to the quartet.