Sir Roger Moore helps UNICEF fight iodine deficiency

From ABC Online Australia, Oct. 29, 2003

Elizabeth Jackson: this year marks half a century since the United Nations Children's Fund first used celebrities to promote its cause and one of those who's been an active and passionate supporter of UNICEF for more than a decade now is the former 007, Sir Roger Moore, encouraged by his good friend and former goodwill ambassador, the late actress Audrey Hepburn.

After travelling to more than a dozen countries and, as he puts it, "reminding Hollywood" of the plight of children in the developing world, Sir Roger Moore was knighted by the Queen this month for his efforts.

Roger Moore and his wife Kristina read a book with children at Trieu Phuoc kindergarten school in Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri, about 600 kilometers south of Hanoi Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003. © AP Photo/UNICEF, HO

Sir Roger visited Vietnam, looking at UNICEF projects to combat iodine deficiency and childhood injury prevention, and he spoke to our reporter from Ho Chi Minh City.

Roger Moore: It's a very difficult sell IDD, you know, first of all you have to explain what iron deficiency disorders mean and then to, sort of, get people to contribute towards something that they really don't quite understand. They don't understand why. Well, we have iodised salt; what do we have it for? You know, for goitres. We don't have goitres. No, goitres is not visible today because of the iodisation of salt, but it does affect one-fifth of the world's population.

So, that's what we were looking at in Cambodia and also the fact that this week, the Prime Minister in Cambodia signed a decree that no salt would be sold or imported in Cambodia that was not iodised.

Tanya Nolan: Well, another issue that I understand you've been seeing a bit more about whilst in Vietnam is this issue of childhood injury prevention and I understand that the Vietnamese Government is about to embark on the world's first-ever childhood injury prevention program.

Can you tell me a bit about that?

Roger Moore: UNICEF has been working on it within Vietnam over the last few years and it was finally…agreements were signed this year and UNICEF started this campaign for education in schools and families of accident prevention because, if you can imagine 30,000 children die every year from an injury in Vietnam, which is 80 children a day.

Tanya Nolan: That seems like an extraordinary figure. What is causing these deaths?

Roger Moore: Well, you know, it's all sort of things we may take for granted. If you take a country like this which is, you know, 3,000 kilometres long and there is a long coastline and there's much lowland and many rice paddies and many houses built on stilts on waterways, then you have an awful lot of drowning.

Tanya Nolan: How did you become a UNICEF goodwill ambassador? I understand that you were spurred a bit by the involvement of your good friend, the late Audrey Hepburn.

Roger Moore: It was her passion talking about children that intrigued me into finding out more about the functions of UNICEF.

Tanya Nolan: Well, you've been doing this for UNICEF for about 10 years now…

Roger Moore: Yes.

Tanya Nolan: …and you were recently recognised for you work by the Queen, who knighted you. What did that mean to you?

Roger Moore: Well, for me it was a) a tremendous honour but it was a recognition of the fact that there is an organisation like UNICEF, and that I am fortunate enough to be somebody who's reasonably well known and for that I have a use within UNICEF when it comes to fundraising. And it is a recognition of all the countless number of people that work within UNICEF, those that are paid and also those, the many thousands who are volunteers.

Tanya Nolan: Is it a recognition for being a "nuisance", as you described yourself?

Roger Moore: Yeah, for being a nuisance with governments and ministers, sort of bending their ear, you know, all they want to sort of is ask you about what it's like to be James Bond and I just start telling them what it's like to be a child.

Tanya Nolan: And have you drawn on anything from your time playing 007 for your role as goodwill ambassador for UNICEF?

Roger Moore: Well, first of all, role implies you're playing a part, uh, you know, James Bond was a part. When I was doing it I didn't think about the politics of it, it was just a piece of entertainment and wasn't, uh, a real thing at all. To me Bond, there was no reality because James Bond is supposed to be a spy who is…but he's recognised everywhere. He walks into a bar and everybody says, oh, 007 have a martini, shaken not stirred. They even know his alcoholic tastes! I mean, that is not a spy.

Tanya Nolan: Do people still ask you if you want a martini?

Roger Moore: I do get that occasionally and I also get people saying, where's your halo?

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