WHO announces four new goodwill ambassadors for health promotion

GENEVA: The WHO recently announced the appointment of four new goodwill ambassadors from the fields of sports, politics, and community mobilization to promote healthier lives, stronger health workforces and improved mental health globally.

The new ambassadors include Alisson Becker, goalkeeper of the Brazilian national and Liverpool football teams and Dr Natália Loewe Becker, medical doctor and health advocate from Brazil, as the WHO Goodwill Ambassadors for Health Promotion; Cynthia Germanotta, President of Born This Way Foundation, which she co-founded with her daughter Lady Gaga, as the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Mental Health; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, as the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Health Workforce.

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

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