Gates and Bloomberg team up for anti-smoking campaign
Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates, the US billionaires, have rallied together to launch a global anti-smoking campaign, committing a combined $500m to help governments in developing countries increase tobacco control.
Gates, who is the third richest person in the world with a fortune of $58bn, and Bloomberg, who comes in 65th on the Forbes Rich List with $11.5bn, are pooling their capital and contacts to urge governments to implement proven interventions to combat tobacco use.
Bloomberg’s Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which was established in 2005 and includes a $125m commitment, will be extended with a new $250m, four-year commitment. This brings Bloomberg’s total commitment to date to more than $375m.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it will invest $125m over five years to fight tobacco use, including a $24m grant to the Bloomberg Initiative. In addition to the grant to Bloomberg, the Gates Foundation will support complementary efforts to reduce high rates of tobacco use in countries such as China and India, as well as to help prevent the tobacco epidemic from taking root in Africa.
The Bloomberg Initiative supports projects that increase tobacco tax, change the image of tobacco, protect non-smokers from exposure to other people’s smoke and help people quit. The Initiative supports the public sector’s efforts to educate and advocate for change, and a rigorous tobacco use and policy monitoring system.
According to the two foundations, unless urgent action is taken, as many as one billion people this century – more than two-thirds in the developing world – could die from tobacco-caused illnesses.
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
reddit
StumbleUpon
