IFRC Goodwill Ambassador Gerry Elsdon
Gerry Elsdon is a media personality and celebrity in South Africa where she has had a successful career as a media and public relations personality as well as a TV presenter. She was also the beautiful face of LUX, personal care company. Her popularity even increased when she started hosting the African version of the popular reality show “Big Brother”. This was at this very moment that she suddenly fell ill. It was at the height of the success of this hit show she was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). The first thing Gerry had to do was to locate a TB clinic in her district so she could start her 6-month treatment. Then she realized that even though it was only five minutes from her home in an upper class neighbourhood, she had never heard of it since it was located into such a remote place. This was also at this time that she realized that TB was a disease that authorities would rather hide. Being confronted with the stigma associated with TB, especially in a country like South Africa where co-infection is frequent and some people suffering from TB are also infected with HIV, had a significant impact on her life.
TV’s glamour girl battles TB
When her TB status became public, there were many rumours in the press that she was also living with HIV. But because Gerry was no ordinary TB patient but also a celebrity, she was asked to be on the cover of a popular women’s magazine with the headline: “The positive face of TB”. This was the turning point for Gerry. She realized that even though she was about to fully recover from the disease, she could not ignore the plight of the thousands of people in her country that were affected by TB. Because they are not celebrities, these people are even far more affected by stigma and discrimination, fuelling further infection since they mostly live in poorer areas just like the place Gerry came from originally.
“I grew up in a township near Cape Town”, she remembers. “This was at a place and a time when the work of the Red Cross impacted our lives. This work was crucial and fundamental and it certainly showed me the way. Organizations like the Red Cross creates activists just like me”, Gerry adds.
Bringing the message worldwide
Gerry Elsdon plays a key role in different national, regional and international events as Goodwill ambassador for the IFRC. She is involved in various TB education campaign and partnerships. She has been very present at the Lilly multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB Partnership, an alliance of more than 20 public and private organizations (including the IFRC) that have combined forces to respond to the rapidly growing threat of MDR-TB in Cancun, Mexico in 2009 and Berlin, Germany in 2010 to participate in meetings with members of the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership from around the world. She has also played a key role in the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross Red Crescent of 2011 tackling issues such as inequity in health: every woman and every child counts. She is also one among the 8 National Champions worldwide against TB. Most recently at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, 55th Session, 16 March 2012,in Vienna, Gerry Elsdon moderated and enriched and IFRC organized side event with her own personal experience. She said: “I have survived tuberculosis, but sadly had to face stigma and discrimination. I fell from glory to oblivion, but my determination and will brought me back to the light. I can only imagine the situation for those drug users who are worse off than I was, which is a good enough reason to motivate me to talk on their behalf.” And for world TB day 2012, Gerry is taking the messages of TB awareness and testing to communities all over South Africa, in a two-week walking campaign called the Hit the Road and Kick TB Walk for Humanity.
Her passion and dedication for her work are contagious. She is a true mover and shaker for changing minds, helping bring dignity to those vulnerable people who most need it.
June 2012: Message from Gerry
Good Morning Friends your support is needed! I entered the Hit The Road and Kick TB Initiative into a Global Competition so TB in South Africa would recieve more support. Please Vote for the Initiative at http://www.newtbdrugs.org/blog/videos/hit-the-road-to-kicktb/
So please go online and lets all tweet or like to show that you support the cause.
Read the opinion piece from Gerry Elsdon, TB goodwill ambassador and Desmond Tutu during the 19th International AIDS conference.
Videos
Fight against TB: We do it, you can do it!
Champions in action against tuberculosis
Nine Champions against tuberculosis got together at the World Health Organization in Geneva to share their own experiences and provide input on the way forward. The celebrities engaged in a 2-session workshop to showcase their contribution to the fight against tuberculosis. The Champions then travelled to Milan where they briefed members of the Regional Government of Lombardy in Milan about the urgent need for continued support for the global fight against the disease. Their journey continued to Turin where they visited a programme run by the NGO Gruppo Abele (
www.gruppoabele.org) which seeks to increase testing for tuberculosis and HIV for migrants and drug users.