Colombian soccer legend El Pibe Valderrama, known as one of the best Colombian and South American soccer players of all time, joins forces with ADRA, a global humanitarian organization, through a public awareness campaign to raise awareness about the importance of vaccines to fight diseases.
Each year vaccines save approximately two to three million lives from diseases such as measles, polio, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, more children are being vaccinated worldwide than ever before. Even so, there are millions of children around the world who lack access to life-saving immunizations.
“We can no longer accept a child dying from a disease that can be easily prevented through vaccines,” said El Pibe Valderrama. “I am honored to join forces with ADRA and its partners to help raise awareness in our communities about the importance of vaccines. This year in particular, there is no better platform than soccer to highlight the need to be vaccinated and to strengthen our defenses!” added El Pibe.
With widespread global interest in the 2018 World Cup, ADRA is launching a soccer-themed campaign with the slogan “Strengthen your defense, get vaccinated!” which links the strengthening of defense in the soccer field with the strengthening of the body’s defenses against preventable diseases through vaccination. The campaign, which features El Pibe Valderrama, seeks to raise public awareness about the importance of vaccinating children against more than a dozen diseases, through programs that provide access to vaccination in remote communities that have little to no access to health services, such as populations living in rural areas and indigenous communities.
The vaccination campaign will be launched this June through web platforms, social networks, and will be broadcast on television channels throughout the continent. To support this vaccination campaign, please visit: www.adra.org/defense
“With the public’s attention focused on this year’s World Cup, we want to use this opportunity to highlight the need for children to enjoy a healthy and safe childhood,” said Hearly Mayr, senior director of marketing and public relations at ADRA. “This is why we have partnered with El Pibe Valderrama, a much-admired and respected personality in the Americas, to urge communities to vaccinate their children in order to avoid preventable deaths,” Mayr added.
El Pibe Valderrama joins other public figures such as the singer-songwriter Juanes, actors Eugenio Derbez and William Levy, the actress and singer Maite Perroni, among others, in raising public awareness about the importance of vaccination.
