Billionaires against cigarettes

Andrew S. Garib, METRO New York | Link | PDF | New York. The world’s largest charitable fund and the mayor of New York’s philanthropic program have teamed up to help the world quit smoking and save an estimated 1 billion deaths from cigarette smoke in the next century.

Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg announced that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies will donate $375 million in new funds for anti-smoking campaigns around the world.

“It makes sense to use the muscle and access both of us have,” said Bloom­berg, who along with Gates is among the richest men in the world.

The billionaires cited World Health Organization statistics that show tobacco is the leading agent of premature death in the world, a problem that is accelerating in growing middle-income nations like China and India.

The funding will go to programs worldwide which encourage quitting and lobby governments to implement anti-tobacco policies.

“Smoking is an epidemic that can be stopped,” said Gates.

Published 08.07.24 02:00:00 -0500 GMT | Posted by Andrew Garib on 08.07.24 | |

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