Here is the link to the press-release from Bloomberg Philantrhopies and here is one to the article on Bloomberg News. Below I reproduced form the press release the part that explains what organizations will be in charge of managing the $220 million (the same a before) and what they'll do with it (essentailly the same). At the very bottom of the document I just found a link to a tumblr site that contains several videos relevant to this announcement, including the speech delivered by Mike Bloomberg at the 15th World Conference in Singapore.
In the upcoming four years of the Initiative, activities will:
- Continue to be led by five of the world’s leading tobacco control advocacy and public health organizations: the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Foundation), the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the World Health Organization and the World Lung Foundation/International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
- Partner with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – a collaboration in place since 2008 to have MPOWERpolicies enacted in low and middle income countries to reduce death and disability due to tobacco use.
- Concentrate efforts on evidence-based policy change at the country level. Countries experiencing the largest burden of tobacco use - China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Bangladesh - will continue to receive intensive support, as well as other low and middle income countries.
- Focus on raising the price of tobacco through increased tobacco taxes, the single most effective way to reduce tobacco use.
There will also be opportunity to develop new strategies, based on emerging evidence of success in tobacco control and other fields, including:
- Tobacco industry monitoring;
- Litigation and advocacy support to challenge tobacco industry efforts to thwart implementation of MPOWERpolicies or other related efforts
- Grant support to governments for the implementation of anti-tobacco initiatives
“The unwavering dedication of the hard-working tobacco control experts in our supported countries has led to tremendous advancements in combating the global tobacco epidemic,” said Kelly Henning, M.D., director of Public Health Programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “With this new commitment, we will continue to accelerate the tobacco control movement in the next four years. Almost three-quarters of the world’s people living in low and middle income countries are not yet covered by even one MPOWER policy – there is still much more lifesaving work to be done.”
For more details, and country specific case studies please view or download our five-year progress report atwww.mikebloomberg.com/fiveyearsofprogress.
About Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use: Bloomberg Philanthropies works primarily to advance five areas globally: the Arts, Education, the Environment, Government Innovation and Public Health. $330 million was distributed in 2011. The Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use is focused on reducing the public health impact of tobacco use globally by implementing proven tobacco control policies in low- and middle-income countries where 80% of tobacco-related deaths occur. For more information please visithttp://bloombergdotorg.tumblr.com/.
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