NEW YORK—Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have committed $500 million to help governments in developing countries fight the tobacco epidemic, they announced at The Times Center on Wednesday, July 23.
“This challenge is really more about policy and getting society energized than about waiting for a scientific breakthrough,” Gates said.
Their approach, called MPOWER, takes a broad approach at limiting the use and sale of tobacco, with a special focus on developing countries. It stands for Monitoring tobacco use, Protecting people from tobacco use, Offering help quitting, Warning consumers of tobacco’s risks, Enforcing bans on tobacco ads, and Raising taxes on tobacco.
“In New York we have proven that smart government policy can make a huge difference in addressing seemingly intractable problems, such as smoking,” Bloomberg said. As a result of his plan, “We’ve cut smoking rates in New York City by 21 percent and…teen smoking by more than 50 percent,” Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg and Gates also called for governments and business leaders around the world to make combating tobacco use more of a priority.
“Part of the challenge we face is convincing national governments to take action, which I can tell you is no easy thing,” Bloomberg said.
The Bloomberg Initiative supports efforts to implement proven strategies in tobacco control in low- and middle-income countries such as China, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, and Bangladesh.
Tobacco usage will kill 175 million people around the world by the year 2030 and one billion by the end of the century if current trends continue. A disproportionately high number of those affected live in developing countries, which is why the initiative has maintained a global focus.
“We have to make sure that those countries don’t have to get as rich as we had to get before we woke up and looked at the evidence,” Gates said. “We’re letting that enlightenment come to them early on.”
Globally, 3.9 billion people live in low-to-middle income countries that together collect $66 billion in taxes per year, but spend less than $20 million on tobacco control.
China has the highest number of smokers in the world with 350 million, one third of the world’s total. Fifty million people in China suffer medical problems resulting from smoking each year. Russia has the highest proportion of smokers at over one third of the adult population.
According to Gates, top officials in the Chinese government have signed on to the plan, despite the fact that the Chinese government owns many of the tobacco companies.
The reason for smoking’s popularity in developing countries has to do with their pop culture. “Smoking started out as a sign of affluence. In ads and movies, there was this kind of cool that’s associated with [smoking]. Fortunately the US has gotten past that. That process has not started yet in these other countries. If you look at the movies in India and China, you still see it as sort of a role model,” said Gates.
For Africa, the two hope to take a more preventative approach. The relatively low prevalence of smoking in Africa has to do with economics. In terms of cost, buying cigarettes is equivalent to buying a kilogram of rice, according to Gates. “In Ethiopia, you have to work four days before you earn enough to buy a package of cigarettes,” Gates said.
In the U.S., 24 States have laws enforcing smoke-free bars and restaurants. In the international community, Uruguay, U.K., France, New Zealand, Italy and Ireland have similar policies.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will invest $125 million in the fight against global tobacco use over the next five years through national governments and non-government organizations. The contribution also includes a $24 million grant to the Bloomberg Initiative.
Bloomberg’s Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use includes a $125 million commitment when it was first established in 2005, and will be extended with a further $250 million over the next four years, with Bloomberg’s investment totaling $375 million.
“This challenge is really more about policy and getting society energized than about waiting for a scientific breakthrough,” Gates said.
Their approach, called MPOWER, takes a broad approach at limiting the use and sale of tobacco, with a special focus on developing countries. It stands for Monitoring tobacco use, Protecting people from tobacco use, Offering help quitting, Warning consumers of tobacco’s risks, Enforcing bans on tobacco ads, and Raising taxes on tobacco.
“In New York we have proven that smart government policy can make a huge difference in addressing seemingly intractable problems, such as smoking,” Bloomberg said. As a result of his plan, “We’ve cut smoking rates in New York City by 21 percent and…teen smoking by more than 50 percent,” Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg and Gates also called for governments and business leaders around the world to make combating tobacco use more of a priority.
“Part of the challenge we face is convincing national governments to take action, which I can tell you is no easy thing,” Bloomberg said.
The Bloomberg Initiative supports efforts to implement proven strategies in tobacco control in low- and middle-income countries such as China, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, and Bangladesh.
Tobacco usage will kill 175 million people around the world by the year 2030 and one billion by the end of the century if current trends continue. A disproportionately high number of those affected live in developing countries, which is why the initiative has maintained a global focus.
“We have to make sure that those countries don’t have to get as rich as we had to get before we woke up and looked at the evidence,” Gates said. “We’re letting that enlightenment come to them early on.”
Globally, 3.9 billion people live in low-to-middle income countries that together collect $66 billion in taxes per year, but spend less than $20 million on tobacco control.
China has the highest number of smokers in the world with 350 million, one third of the world’s total. Fifty million people in China suffer medical problems resulting from smoking each year. Russia has the highest proportion of smokers at over one third of the adult population.
According to Gates, top officials in the Chinese government have signed on to the plan, despite the fact that the Chinese government owns many of the tobacco companies.
The reason for smoking’s popularity in developing countries has to do with their pop culture. “Smoking started out as a sign of affluence. In ads and movies, there was this kind of cool that’s associated with [smoking]. Fortunately the US has gotten past that. That process has not started yet in these other countries. If you look at the movies in India and China, you still see it as sort of a role model,” said Gates.
For Africa, the two hope to take a more preventative approach. The relatively low prevalence of smoking in Africa has to do with economics. In terms of cost, buying cigarettes is equivalent to buying a kilogram of rice, according to Gates. “In Ethiopia, you have to work four days before you earn enough to buy a package of cigarettes,” Gates said.
In the U.S., 24 States have laws enforcing smoke-free bars and restaurants. In the international community, Uruguay, U.K., France, New Zealand, Italy and Ireland have similar policies.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will invest $125 million in the fight against global tobacco use over the next five years through national governments and non-government organizations. The contribution also includes a $24 million grant to the Bloomberg Initiative.
Bloomberg’s Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use includes a $125 million commitment when it was first established in 2005, and will be extended with a further $250 million over the next four years, with Bloomberg’s investment totaling $375 million.
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