I’m putting all of my snark aside* this morning (I KNOW, RIGHT?) to tell you that George Clooney, A-list actor and humanitarian, has confirmed through his rep that he did, indeed, contract Malaria on a recent trip to the Sudan.
While this isn’t a huge, huge, huge deal for a very wealthy resident of a first-world country who has fortuitous access to live-saving drugs and maintenance medications, it is a huge deal to a person or family living in desolation in a third-world country, where cleanliness, moderate temperatures, and plentiful resources aren’t exactly rampant.
This news comes on the heels of a recent trip to Africa for the actor, and in light of recent developments, Clooney is scheduled to talk disease prevention alongside his father on an upcoming installment of Piers Morgan’s new show on CNN.
I’ve always admired George Clooney for his efforts across the globe, and being of such strong moral fiber that he’d raise awareness of social issues, even if it meant putting himself in danger’s way. I totally respect that.
And I guess he finally one-upped Angelina Jolie, too. She goes and feeds the starving children of third-world countries, and he goes and contracts one of their illnesses. Dirty pool, old man. Dirty pool.
*Sorry. Just couldn’t resist.
What color is the ribbon for Malaria?
I’d much rather watch a show with Mel Gibson and his father. They can talk about contracting crazy while on a mission to help Russian Jews with Jesse James.