Rutland medic takes over Twitter and Instagram accounts of X-Men actor Alan Cumming to discuss global response to coronavirus pandemic
A Rutland medic has hijacked the social media channels of an X-Men actor for a day.
Hollywood actor Alan Cumming, who played Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, handed over control of his Twitter and Instagram accounts to medic David Anderson last month. It was part of anti-poverty group The ONE Campaign’s #PassTheMic promotion, giving frontline health workers and economic experts a platform to discuss the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.
David, 51, a humanitarian health advisor with charity UK-Med, has supported the British government’s UK Emergency Medical Team’s responses to crises including the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.
He said: “Alan is a really talented actor and it was great fun that he let me have access to his followers and fans.
He recently used his experiences attending global health emergencies to help set up the NHS Nightingale field hospital in Manchester as part of the UK’s efforts to tackle Covid-19.
David was delighted to get the chance to speak directly to Cumming’s 397,000 Instagram followers and 291,000 Twitter fans about the importance of helping the world’s poorest countries combat coronavirus.
“The world needs to work together and share all our expertise to contain this. No matter whether you are South African, from New Zealand, Australia, Ghana, or Serbia, this germ does not respect borders.
“This disease does not suddenly get to the border between France and Germany and go ‘I’m not crossing there’. If we don’t help each other then this is not going to go away.”
Actor Alan Cumming, 55, said: “Right now, as the world continues to deal with the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to continue to listen to the experts and those on the frontline of battling this disease.
“The response to this has to be global, because disease doesn’t respect borders. Until all of us are safe, none of us are safe – but thanks to the heroes on the frontline around the world, like David, we can beat this virus everywhere.”
Other stars including Julia Roberts, James McAvoy, Hugh Jackman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Penelope Cruz have allowed experts like President Trump’s senior advisor Dr Anthony Fauci to take over their social media feeds.
David’s humanitarian work has been funded by the Department For International Development.
International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “I am proud that brave UK EMT medics like David are using the expertise and experience gained from responding to humanitarian crises around the world, to help our NHS in the fight against coronavirus.
“The UK Government has so far pledged £764m of UK aid to help end the pandemic sooner, find a vaccine and save lives around the world, including in the UK.”
