JET LI, WHO’S NEWEST GOODWILL AMBASSADOR
WHO’s work on global public health involves people from all walks
of life but the latest addition to the family is special in many ways.
A Chinese martial arts champion-turned-international film actor, Jet Li
is the WHO’s newest Goodwill Ambassador. He was in his home city
Beijing on Tuesday to help WHO launch this year’s World Health Day.
It was a special day for the Chinese star. “I am excited. It is my first day on the job,” said Li before the launch of World Health Day. This year the annual event focuses on making hospitals safe in emergencies so that they provide life-saving services when natural disasters and wars strike.
Li relates to the theme well, having escaped the South Asian tsunami in December 2004 while on holiday with his family. “I realized at that moment, when I was neck-deep in seawater trying to keep my daughter from drowning, that our lives are fragile. Strangers saved us and rescued my younger daughter who was swept away by the oncoming waves,” he said, recollecting a moment he calls “transforming”. “I realized that my fame, my wealth and my success could not save me and that we must all give back to the human family that we are all part of.”
Moved by the experience, Li decided to put aside his film career for a while to set up a charitable foundation. Since then, he and his One Foundation have provided emergency response following natural disasters and promoted the role that everyone has to play for their own well-being and that of their communities. “I believe that young people of today have many problems but have a great deal to contribute too”, he says.
Li’s other passion is promoting mental health and well-being, especially among young people. “Today’s youth live a stressful life and need to learn how to maintain good mental health and well-being”, he says. His foundation has helped introduce psychosocial programmes for Chinese university students.
As a WHO Goodwill Ambassador, Li will initially support the work of Health Action in Crises and Mental Health. With his fan base, he is well placed to promote health, well-being and community participation, pointed out WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan on appointing him a Goodwill Ambassador.
Li knows first hand what it is like to work hard against all odds and achieve goals. As a small boy of 8, Li Lian Jie was enrolled in a Chinese martial arts (Wushu) school. By the age of 11, young Li had won his first Chinese national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. He moved so fast that classmates nicknamed him “Jet”, implying that he was as fast as a jet airplane. Li has represented China in over fourty-five countries, performing martial arts at various state functions.
At the age of 17, after dominating the field for many years, the young Wushu champion retired from the sport and moved onto a long and successful film career starting with martial arts films and later moving onto Hollywood. He has made more than fourty-five films to date. The 45-year-old Li joined Dr Chan and senior Chinese officials in Beijing to launch this year’s World Health Day. It was his first assignment as WHO Goodwill Ambassador.
