Unicef have announced ambassador David Beckham as the face of a new campaign aiming to raise awareness in Africa about how people can prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.
David, who has been a Goodwill Ambassador for Unicef since 2005, will feature in a video, explaining the importance of cleanliness in controlling the spread of the disease.
Speaking about the appointment to the Sun on Sunday, Sierra Leone Football Association President Isha Johansen said:
“To have David Beckham involved in this campaign is massive for us and we are so grateful to him. In Sierra Leone, football is a religion. All men, women and children follow a player or a team from the Premier League but David Beckham is the favourite.”
The Ebola virus has now claimed the lives of over 4,000 people in West Africa, and the video will be broadcast over Sierra Leona, Liberia and Guinea to try control further spread of the virus.
Johansen hopes the video will be able to curb the disease which has been dominating the country for the past few months:
“His sympathetic message will be broadcast across the country and the whole of West Africa, and it will raise the importance of how to fight this disease by simple things like good cleanliness.
“Our country and the whole of West Africa is facing a terrible plight and the numbers who are dying are incredible. It’s been going on here for months now and the fact that it has reached Europe has made people notice there as well.”
