Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama Launches Vaccination Campaign and Calls to Strengthen Your Defense

• El Pibe joins ADRA, an international humanitarian organization, to
  promote the importance of vaccines
• Vaccines save up to 3 million lives each year throughout the world

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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.

To view El Pibe’s public service announcement (PSA), visit: https://youtu.be/efOGgTo1mRY

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.

About Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama:

El Pibe (“The Kid”) Valderrama, is a Colombian former soccer player who
played as a midfielder. A creative playmaker, known for his precise
passing, technical skills, and elegance on the ball, he is regarded as
one of the best Colombian and South American footballers of all time,
and by some as Colombia’s greatest player ever; his distinctive
hairstyle, as well as talent and skillful playing style made him one of
South America’s elite and most recognizable soccer players in the late
1980s and early 1990s. He won the South American Soccer Player of the
Year award in 1987 and 1993, and in 1999, he was also named one of the
top 100 players of the 20th century by World Soccer. In 2004, he was
included in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 “greatest living soccer
players” chosen by Pelé to celebrate the 100th anniversary of FIFA.

About ADRA:

Established in 1956, ADRA is a global humanitarian organization that
provides disaster relief and assistance for sustainable development to
vulnerable communities in more than 135 countries. For more than 60
years, ADRA has been committed to working with communities around the
world to improve their quality of life, and create positive change for
those living in poverty and anguish.

ADRA’s partners include: U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the U.N.’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), U.N’s
World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), Office
of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the United States Agency for
International Development Food for Peace (USAID FFP), and the Office of
U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) among many others reputable
global organizations, governments, corporations, community organizations
and civil society groups.

For more information: www.ADRA.org
Facebook:
@joinADRA
Instagram: #adrainternational

Contacts

To join this campaign:
ADRA
Maria-Esmeralda Paguaga,
571-237-2290
Maria-Esmeralda.Paguaga@adra.org
or
Press
contact:
ADRA
Ashley Eisele, 301-680-6389
Ashley.Eisele@adra.org