Whoopi Goldberg Presses For Children’s Healthcare In UNICEF PSA

The View host/moderator Whoopi Goldberg is more than an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) award winner. She’s an advocate for important issues in life and now she’s speaking out on one the most vital — healthcare for children — after her own life-threatening illness.

Whoopi Goldberg Supports Children’s Health

In a Public Service Announcement (PSA) for UNICEF, taped on The View set, Goldberg wrote in the caption, “Last year, I got pneumonia and I’m so thankful I could recover with good medical care. Now, I’m with @unicef in sending a message to world leaders: don’t leave children fighting for breath. Please invest in trained health workers to keep #everychildalive.”

It was around a year ago that Goldberg took a break from hosting The View after contracting a flu that almost took her life. After an absence of about a month, she was well enough to record a video that was played on air, giving View viewers an update on her health.

The View Host Fights Her Way Back

“I am up and moving around,” Goldberg said in her video that aired on the talk show. “Not as fast as I’d like to be, but I am okay. I’m not dead. So here’s what happened: I had pneumonia and I was septic. Pneumonia in both lungs, which means there was fluid, there was all kinds of stuff going on.

“And yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth,” she continued. “Good news, I didn’t. Thank you for all of your good wishes. And all of the wonderful things that you have been saying.”

Goldberg was heartened by the fact that even her detractors were hoping she’d get well. “[P]eople who are not huge fans of mine have actually said nice things about me. We all know that’s gonna change when I get back, but for right now it’s brilliant.”

She took a break from The View on February 6, 2019, and returned for the first time in person on Thursday, March 19, 2019. For more information on UNICEF, click here. The View airs weekdays on ABC. Check local listings for air times.